The battle behind the Constitutional Council’s LU ruling

The Lebanese University (LU) has entered a new phase of institutional uncertainty after the Constitutional Council partially annulled the legal amendment that had extended the mandate of its president, Dr. Bassam Badran, for 6 months while preserving the possibility of seeking a second consecutive term.

Under Decision No. 8/2026, the council annulled the provisions related to the exceptional extension and the preservation of the current president’s right to run again, while maintaining the general rule that the university president’s mandate lasts 5 years and may be renewed once.

The ruling followed a constitutional challenge submitted by a group of parliamentarians, including Lebanese Forces (LF) Member of Parliament (MP) Antoine Habchi. The Beiruter interviewed Habchi to gain deeper insight into the legal significance and broader implications of the Constitutional Council’s decision.

Constitutional Council decision confirms validity of legal challenge

According to Habchi, the core issue raised before the Constitutional Council was not the identity of the university president, but the nature of the legislative amendment itself and whether it respected constitutional principles.

He referred to Article 22 of the Law Establishing the Constitutional Council, which provides that when the Council finds a legal provision unconstitutional, it may annul it entirely or partially, with the annulled text considered as if it had never been issued. He also cited Article 37 of the Council’s internal regulations, which states that annulled provisions produce no legal effects.

Based on the appeal submitted on 6 August 2026 against Law No. 45/2026, the Constitutional Council annulled the provision stating that “until implementation, the mandate of the university president shall be extended for 6 months while preserving his right to run for a second term only.”

Habchi argued that the provision was unconstitutional because it did not establish a general rule applicable to current or future cases, but rather applied exclusively to one individual.

The annulled provision did not apply to any person, present or future, except one person in particular: the current president of the Lebanese University, Dr. Bassam Badran.

According to him, this transformed the provision into an exceptional measure benefiting a specific individual, contradicting the principle that laws must be general and abstract.

He added that preserving the current president’s right to seek a second term created an additional personal advantage because it allowed him to remain in office while simultaneously competing for renewal, a possibility not equally available to other candidates.

Based on the above, the Constitutional Council’s annulment of this paragraph constitutes an application of the constitutional principle requiring legislative rules to be general and abstract. It also reflects the principle of equality among candidates seeking access to public positions, as enshrined in paragraph C of the Constitution’s Preamble and in Articles 7 and 12.

Protecting rotation of authority and avoiding conflict of interest

Habchi explained that his opposition to extending Badran’s mandate was based on the institutional principles established by Law No. 66/2009, which regulates the LU’s academic councils.

According to him, the law abolished direct renewal of the mandates of the university president, faculty deans, and branch directors unless a full mandate had elapsed, thereby requiring the opening of a new selection process. This mechanism, he argued, was intended to guarantee rotation of authority and preserve institutional independence.

He stressed that this was not merely a procedural issue, but a safeguard designed to prevent conflicts of interest and protect the independence of decision-making.

Under the university’s nomination mechanism No. 2071 dated 15 June 2016, the University Council selects five candidates holding the rank of professor for the presidency. These names are then submitted to the Minister of Education, who forwards three candidates to the Council of Ministers for appointment.

Habchi highlighted that the president of the university also chairs the University Council, which plays a role in the nomination process. “The legislator did not want the university president to be, at the same time, the holder of administrative authority, the head of the electoral body, and a candidate benefiting from the outcome,” he said.

In his view, allowing the president to remain in office while participating in the process through which candidates are selected would create a conflict between his institutional responsibilities and personal interest. “Every authority must exercise its powers in order to achieve the public interest, and not to achieve a personal benefit or establish a legal status for a specific individual,” he asserted.

The future of the presidency after the Constitutional Council’s decision

Following the Constitutional Council’s ruling, Habchi argued that the university presidency must return to the legal mechanism established under Law No. 66/2009.

He explained that Dr. Badran’s mandate, which began following his appointment by Decree No. 8415 in October 2021 for a 5-year period, ends with the expiration of his original term on 12 October 2026 because the 6-month extension was annulled.

He also noted that the provision explicitly preserving Badran’s right to run for a second consecutive term was annulled, removing that specific advantage.

His right to run for a second term is no longer valid.

According to Habchi, the next step should be the implementation of the normal appointment procedure mentioned earlier, including the appointment of a new president for the LU in accordance with Article 2 of Law No. 66/2009. However, the absence of a functioning University Council remains a major obstacle to completing this process.

Restoring the University Council and ending temporary appointments

For Habchi, resolving the presidential vacancy requires addressing the broader institutional gap created by the absence of a properly constituted University Council.

The absence of an original University Council negatively affects university administration and sound governance.

He argued that the council must be restored through the appointment of permanent deans, the selection of qualified academic figures, and the election of faculty representatives.

Habchi referred to Article 25 of Law No. 66/2009, which establishes that deans should be appointed for 4-year terms through decrees adopted by the Council of Ministers upon the proposal of the Minister of Education, based on nominations submitted through the university’s academic bodies.

He criticized the continued reliance on acting appointments, arguing that the current situation does not provide the legal and institutional stability required for effective university governance. “The current status of acting deans (18 out of 19) is illegal, because the appointments made by the President of the University are unlawful according to the decisions of the State Council,” Habchi noted.

A broader crisis of governance and reform

For Habchi, the dispute over the president’s mandate represents only one dimension of a much deeper crisis affecting the LU.

The Constitutional Council’s decision has resolved one legal dispute surrounding the extension of the LU president’s mandate, but it has not addressed the deeper institutional challenges facing the country’s largest public university.

He pointed out that the university includes 19 academic units, more than 50 branches across Lebanon, thousands of professors and employees, and approximately 64,000 students, representing more than 40% of university students in the country.

According to Habchi, the university’s growing size has been accompanied by excessive centralization and administrative complexity. Arguing that Lebanon must reconsider the mechanisms governing academic, administrative, and financial decision-making, he said that

the university has become a very large institution constrained by bureaucracy.

Therefore, he called for comprehensive governance reform aimed at creating a system based on transparency, efficiency, and balanced decision-making rather than excessive concentration of authority. Beyond administrative restructuring, Habchi stressed the need for broader academic reform, including updating curricula, strengthening scientific research, and reviewing recruitment and staffing policies, to ensure that the LU can operate as an effective, independent, and academically sustainable public institution.