Political Risk:
High
Score:
40/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
17/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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According to the Parliament’s rule of procedure, the Parliament has formal powers to scrutinize government policies. Furthermore, the Parliament is responsible for approving the…
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In theory, the Government of Lebanon is responsible for setting the defence and security policy (1). The presidentially-led Supreme Defence Council, on the other…
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Parliamentary politics is subordinate to the interests of principal confessional elites. Thus, Lebanese politics are organized in a manner that undermines parliamentary scrutiny of…
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Q2
20/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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The National Defence, Interior, and Municipalities Parliamentary Committee is one of the 16 standing committees in the Parliament (1). It is responsible for studying,…
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In general, committee members are not required to have expertise in defence affairs (1). According to the Parliament’s Book, professional and academic expertise are…
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Research found no cases of the parliamentary committee reviewing major defence policies and decisions in the past five years or when new threats arise.…
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The committee does not regularly issue defence related amendments and recommendations (1). For example, the committee has infrequently studied the proposal to change the…
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Long term oversight is not exercised by the parliamentary committee. The Council of Ministers oversees and follows up on the implementation of the defence…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because research found no cases of major recommendations for the Ministry of Defence to incorporate or adopt…
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Q3
0/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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In the past year, defence policy and security strategy have not been debated nor established. However, government officials have expressed individually and on separate…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because Lebanon had not begun debating the national defence strategy when the GDI research was conducted (1).…
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Lebanon does not have a national defence strategy. Thus, there has been no formal consultation with the public (1). During the last consultations held…
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Lebanon does not have a defence strategy to share with the public. The last failed discussions were done during a national dialogue meeting under…
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Q4
58/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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No formal policy for security and defence institutions being open towards CSOs was found (1). However, informal activity to collaborate with CSOs has been…
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Lebanon has a progressive legal and regulatory system for civil society organizations. It is considered one of the most liberal and open countries in…
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The defence and security sector is sometimes open to cooperating with CSOs depending on the topic. For example, a LAF Commander requested TI’s International…
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Q5
63/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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In 2009, the Lebanese government signed and acceded to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) (1). Furthermore, Lebanon is not a defence exporter…
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Though Lebanon has enhanced its anti-corruption legal framework and has passed significant laws to improve transparency including the access to information (2017), transparency in…
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Q6
38/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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Outside the government, there is an occasional debate on defence issues, but they are superficial. As indicated in Q3, CSOs showed lack of interest…
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On defence-related issues, the government supplies the public with limited information. The Supreme Defence Council, following the National Defence Law, does not disclose the…
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Q7
50/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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Although there is a general political agreement to combat corruption, Lebanon does not have an official anti-corruption strategy. In May 2018, Lebanon launched the…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because, at the time of undertaking the GDI research, Lebanon did not have an official anti-corruption strategy.…
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Q8
42/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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On June 26, 2019, the Parliament approved the Law on Combating Corruption in the Public sector which includes the creation of the National Anti-Corruption…
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The Anti-corruption Commission, that has yet to be established, should be independent and have a separate budget that funds its activities (1). The Military…
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The LAF is aware of corruption risks, though it might not be at the unit level (1). It has conducted workshops for officers on…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The LAF is the most trusted public institution in the country (1) and is…
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Q10
0/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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No evidence of regular defence specific assessments of corruption risks done by the Ministry of Defence was found. The Ministry of State for Combating…
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This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable, as there is no evidence of defence specific corruption risks assessments being conducted (1). However, the…
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This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable, as there is no evidence of defence specific corruption risks assessments being conducted. Although the research…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
33/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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The LAF’s J5 (Planning Directorate) and J4 (Logistics Directorate) operate with significant synergy and coherence on acquisition planning processes (1). With the absence of…
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The LAF’s J4 does not proactively publish the entire acquisition process and the justification of purchases, lines of responsibility, timelines, mechanisms, and outcomes (1).…
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External oversight towards long term acquisition plans, their legitimacy and likelihood of their appropriateness is done superficially. Donations that are sent to the LAF…
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Q12
63/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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The Ministry of Finance publishes the defence budget as part of the state budget on its website. In 2018, Lebanon passed its first state…
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The Parliament receives information on proposed state budget after the government approves it. In theory, the MoF should issue a circular in April to…
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Q13
25/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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The National Defence, Interior, and Municipality Committee is not responsible for scrutinizing and analysing the defence budget. The Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee is…
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As noted in 13A, the Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee is responsible for reviewing the budget proposal for the specific year before it’s raised…
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Q14
58/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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The defence budget is found within the state budget and is made publically available in a disaggregated form on the Ministry of Finance’s website…
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The defence budget is fully disclosed and available online for the public on the MoF’s website as part of the state (1). A source confirmed…
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No information was found on budget information requests. The Access to Information Law restricts information of sensitive nature such as national security and defence…
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Q15
25/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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Some publications of donations and military assistance by media outlets cover donations coming to the LAF. Donations in the form of military assistance by…
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According to our sources, the Parliament does not scrutinize the non-government resources that are not included in the budget. The decrees are approved by…
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Public scrutiny is non-existant for non-central government sources of funding (1). Usually, public scrutiny is aimed at the defence budget expenditure because it is…
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Q16
50/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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The Directorate for Financial and Administrative Affairs audits expenditures related to the salaries of military personnel and civilians in the LAF (1). The Directorate…
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The General Directorate of Administration (GDA) oversees the LAF spending (1). The Directorate for Financial and Administrative Affairs sends detailed reports of the spendings…
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It is unclear whether the LAF shares the audits with external bodies, although two interviewee’s (1), (2) indicated that the LAF shares information and…
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This sub-indicator has not been assigned a score due to insufficient information or evidence. It is unclear whether the Ministry of National Defence addresses…
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Q17
31/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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The Court of Audit (CoA) is Lebanon’s highest financial court. It is an administrative court with a financial and judicial role to monitor public…
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The Court of Audit is independent of the Ministry of Defence. However, the court is tied and reports to the executive branch it is…
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The CoA’s reports are not published regularly, as it suffers from being understaffed (1). However, some reports on the approval of transfer of credits…
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Generally, the CoA’s reports are not issued on time. One of the main problem that the court faces as a result of being understaffed…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
67/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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No evidence was found on the restrictions on defence institutions or individuals having controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural…
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There are no cases of defence institutions being involved in businesses relating to the country’s natural resource exploitation (1). An interviewed source disregarded, in…
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No evidence was found of individual defence personnel being involved in businesses relating to the country’s natural resource exploitation (1).
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No evidence was found of defense sector interest in natural resource exploitation, thus this sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicablee (1).
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because no evidence of defence sector interest in natural resource exploitation was found. In this regard, scrutiny…
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Organised Crime
Q19
75/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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No information was found on cases of the penetration of organized crime into the defence sector (1). An expert journalist denied any such cases…
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No evidence was found of the government trying to tackle the issue of potential penetration of organized crime into the defence and security sector…
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Q20
50/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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The LAF’s Military Police is responsible for internal policing. It is tasked with controlling and reporting violations in addition to providing support for combat…
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The Military Police operates under the instructions of the LAF Command and the military prosecution. Thus, the Military Police’s findings will be reported back…
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Military Police activities, outside the defence sector, are mentioned in the news (1). Announcements of the prosecutions’ results are eventually published (2). Nevertheless, the…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
0/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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The parliamentary committee does not practice independent scrutiny and oversight on the intelligence services. For example, the intelligence services’ secret expenditure goes without scrutiny…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as the parliamentary committee does not have influence over the Military Intelligence Directorate (1).
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Q22
50/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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Selection criteria exist for appointments for senior ranks (1). However, the criteria are not published or announced to the public (2). For example, the…
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In the post-2005 period, senior appointments – including to the intelligence services – reflect the horse-trading and balance of power between the competing sectarian…
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There is no clear and transparent vetting process for the selection of the head of the intelligence service (1). The head of the intelligence…
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Export Controls
Q23
100/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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In September 2018, the Parliament approved the treaty and Lebanon officially became the 102nd member of the Arms Trade Treaty in May 2019 after…
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Lebanon officially became the 102nd member of the Arms Trade Treaty in May 2019 after submitting its ratification documents (1). The treaty will enter…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as Lebanon is not an exporter of conventional arms identified by Article 2.1 of the Arms Trade…
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Lobbying in Defence
There is no framework regulating lobbying activity in Lebanon. No information was found on lobbying in the defence sector. A source confirmed there is…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as Lebanon does not have legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector.
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as Lebanon does not have legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector.
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as Lebanon does not have legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector.
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