Raja S. Abinader
2011 MENA Fellow, Lebanon
Judge Raja Abinader is Head of the Beirut and Southern Lebanon Commission for Reduction of Prison Sentences.
Raja has been on the bench for five years and has been head of the Commission of Reduction of Sentences since 2009. He is a Member of Parliamentary subcommittees on Criminal Law reform and a Lecturer in Reduction of Prison Sentences.
As a John Smith Fellow, he intends to develop his work on sentence reduction. His plan is to ensure that the Amendment to the sentencing Law that he drafted and that was recently accepted by the Lebanese Parliament is fully implemented and to bring through a further bill regarding alternative measures to prison sentences such as probation, suspended sentencing and community service.
Secondly, regarding the administrative facet, a plan is in motion with reference to the transfer of the prisons administration from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Justice, especially since the detention conditions in Lebanon and the overcrowding of prisons are presently a hot topic in the country. Finally, pertaining to the social and academic aspects, his plan involves working towards a stronger collaboration with the different local and international NGOs concerned with the issue of prison conditions and prisoner's rights, organizing conferences, seminars and/or workshops in order to promote the development of the recent concept of Reduction of Sentences and its evolution in Lebanon.