The right to seize taxis for election duty

Once upon a time in Lebanon (11)

In order to secure all the supplies and means needed for parliamentary elections, and since in the past decades the Lebanese government did not have the large fleet of cars that are used today by officials and security forces, Legislative Decree No. 9 was issued on August 21, 1943, granting the Secretary of State (who acts as a counterbalance to the Prime Minister) the right to confiscate taxis and put them at the disposal of governors to transport polling station and security enforcement officials. The confiscation shall be carried out in two phases, each for a period of 3 days.

The law imposes on violators monetary penalties that may rise to imprisonment (see below the text of Legislative Decree No. 9).