As Lebanon is mulling paying its share of the budget of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon over three installments due to the country’s precarious finances, the court, Martin Youssef, said “at this time, we do not have a position on the issue of installments so long as Lebanon honors its financial commitment to the tribunal.”

In remarks published in The Daily Star, Youssef said the funding was instrumental to the work of the STL, but would not stop it from carrying out its work. He added that there was no reason to expect Lebanon to renege on its obligations.

“There is really no point to entertain the thought that Lebanon is not going to contribute,” Youssef said. “We’ve received every indication from Lebanon that it's committed to the tribunal, so it’s just a matter of finding the available channels to do this.”

“The responsibility to fund the 49 percent falls on the state,” Youssef said. “It does not fall on a particular government.”