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The recently enacted commercial lease law in Lebanon is far from being universally welcomed, particularly among pharmacists, who have voiced strong opposition to its provisions. In late October, the Lebanese Order of Pharmacists submitted a proposal to the Parliamentary Committee on Administration and Justice, seeking amendments to what they view as an unfair and ambiguous legal framework.
The proposal seeks to classify pharmacists as liberal professionals, allowing them to benefit from an eight-year grace period before returning leased properties to their owners, and to exempt existing pharmacist tenants from certain distance and surface requirements.
Pharmacists: A Divide Between Old and New Tenants
The amendment introduces special provisions for businesses subject to technical requirements such as minimum distances between two establishments or minimum shop sizes. Those compelled to relocate under the new law would be granted, on a one-time basis, a 50% reduction in these requirements regarding distance and area.
The new law differentiates between long-standing and new tenants. The first category benefits from relaxed conditions, reducing the minimum distance between two pharmacies from 300 to 150 meters, and the required area from 32 to 16 square meters. All other pharmacists, however, remain subject to the initial standards of 300 meters and 32 square meters.
Chaos in a Saturated Market
The Order of Pharmacists is urging amendments to ensure equality between old and new tenants in order to prevent chaos in an already saturated market.
A strict application of the new law could deepen the imbalance, with some warning that the number of pharmacies exceeds actual demand sixfold.
In practical terms, the law could allow some pharmacists to relocate outside their main branches, to smaller, more accessible, and less costly premises.
Critics argue this could result in pharmacies opening near one another, threatening the viability of existing businesses and further destabilizing the sector’s distribution.
Toward Fairer Implementation
Since the enactment of the base commercial lease law, several voices have argued that, constitutionally and legally, it would have been preferable to immediately liberalize these contracts and apply the Code of Obligations and Contracts.
For reference, Law No. 24/2025 on commercial and non-residential leases, passed on August 21, 2025, abolished several key provisions. It removed the owner’s right to waive rent increases, limited the ability to reclaim leased property after two years, lowered the equivalent rent rate from 8% to 5%, and extended lease renewal periods from 2–4 years to 5–8 years, thus setting a maximum duration before lease liberalization.
However, Law No. 24/2025 only published the amended articles, meaning the base law - Law No. 11/2025 - remains in force wherever its provisions are not explicitly contradicted.
The law applies to contracts signed before July 23, 1992, covering all non-residential premises used for commercial, industrial, or professional purposes such as shops, restaurants, offices, pharmacies, clinics, hotels, factories, workshops, banks, public administrations, unions, municipalities, hospitals, and barracks.
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