Jean Joseph Lebrun, juge en chef, émerge comme solution de dernier recours alors qu’Haïti approche du 7 février
Haiti Nears Feb. 7 Deadline as a Top Judge Is Floated to Steer a Fragile Transition By Patrick Prezeau Stephenson (Le francais suit) PORT-AU-PRINCE , Haiti — With Haiti racing toward Feb. 7, 2026 — a date that functions as both a constitutional marker and a stress test of whether the state can keep operating — political and legal actors are increasingly converging on a stopgap idea: place the country, temporarily, under the stewardship of Jean Joseph Lebrun, the chief justice and president of Haiti’s Court of Cassation. On Monday, Feb. 2, a commission tasked with consulting the justices of the nation’s highest court announced at a news conference in Pétion-Ville that it had selected Judge Lebrun as interim president of the republic. The commission pointed to Article 149 of Haiti’s Constitution, which outlines the mechanism to be used in the event of a vacancy at the head of the executive. The proposal, its advocates say, is meant to accomplish one immediate goal: pre...