Entry into the judiciary

After eight years practicing law, Hassan Kawas entered the judiciary in 1962. Public reporting places him in civil and criminal courts before his later appointment as investigating judge in Beirut.

In 1968 he became an investigating judge in Beirut, a role that placed him at the procedural beginning of serious criminal cases: crime scenes, forensic orders, autopsies, delegated police work, and early evidence collection.

Murder court and high judicial office

From 1978 to 1993, Kawas served as president of Lebanon's murder court, one of the country's most serious criminal jurisdictions. That position explains why later records often connect his name with major files and capital punishment.

In 1993, he became counselor in the sixth chamber of the Court of Cassation and an original member of Lebanon's Justice Council, the exceptional court assigned to major state-security and politically charged cases.