While the Mehlis UN Commission inquiring into the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri has been grabbing the headlines for these past few months, the rest of the judiciary has been quietly setting out on the path to reassert its prized independence, free of the political pressures that have made its life difficult for decades. Files on the alleged misdeeds of around 20 judges out of a total of around 500 are currently being studied to see whether there is a case for removing them from their jobs. Although Justice Minister Charles Rizk is emphatic that the judges’ ruling body, the Higher Judicial Council, is in sole charge of running its own house, he hopes that any judges found to be either “indiscreet or incompetent” will be questioned and their cases acted upon within the next three to six months. In theory, the all-consuming inquiry into the February 14 bomb
