1. What are the key differences in the legislation in this
jurisdiction and other key international jurisdictions?
Lebanon is considered to be a civil law country. Indeed, the
Lebanese legal system is based on/inspired mainly by the legal
system in France, even though few Ottoman and Islamic legal
principles apply on few matters. The Code of Obligations and
Contracts (COC), which is the prevailing legislation, was
promulgated in 1932, under the French mandate over Lebanon. The
said code is the equivalent of the French Civil Code. However, the
COC does not apply on personal status matters (such as
marriage/divorce, inheritance etc) which are governed by the laws
set by the 18 sects recognised in Lebanon. According to the COC,
parties are free to structure contracts/projects as they see fit
provided such contracts/projects do not violate or contradict
mandatory legal provisions, public order, morality or core public
policy.
