Lawyers and judges at a United Nations-backed tribunal are trying to thrash out the question of what constitutes an act of terrorism, and other legal issues, as they prepare to prosecute suspects for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
A hearing at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is aimed at clarifying laws the court will apply to those allegedly responsible for the truck bomb that killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005.
Tribunal President Antonio Cassese of Italy said Monday's hearing shows that Lebanon is set on a course for judicial accountability through the rule of law.
Prosecutors last month filed a sealed indictment to a judge who will take up to 10 weeks studying the charges and evidence before deciding whether the case can proceed.
The tribunal is expected to name members of Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah as complicit in the murder. The group, which has a strong foothold in the Lebanese cabinet, last month brought down the government of Saad Hariri, Rafik Hariri's son, after he refused to cave to its demands to reject the findings of the investigation.