Nine Network journalists involved in the much-criticised child abduction case in Lebanon will learn as early as next week whether they will face criminal charges over the bungled Beirut operation.
Investigating judge Rami Abdullah has concluded his inquiry into the incident and has made his recommendations on whether kidnapping and other criminal charges should be laid against 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown, her crew, Australian mother Sally Faulkner and the child recovery team.
From here the process becomes complex.
Judge Abdullah's report is now with Mount Lebanon's Attorney General, Judge Claude Karam, who will make his own recommendations and pass the report to a chamber of three judges for review before it is sent back to Judge Abdullah for a final ruling.
"The report went to the Attorney General on Monday," Judge Abdullah told AAP.
"We expect to hear something in the next week," he said.
He declined to reveal what was in his report, and stressed "I will make the final decision on charges ... once that decision has been issued there is no chance of appeal for those facing charges."
He said the next stop if charges were laid was the criminal court where the penalties could be between three and 10 years jail.
If the Australians are charged it is likely they will be extradited to Lebanon to face trial, legal experts say.
Faulkner, Brown, producer Stephen Rice, sound recordist David Ballment and cameraman Ben Williamson were arrested in Beirut on April 6, along with child recovery operator Adam Whittington, his colleague Craig Michaels and two Lebanese men, Khaled Barbour and Mohammed Hamza.
They were taken into custody by police in the hours after Whittington's team snatched Faulkner's two children, Lahela, 5 and Noah, 3, from a busy suburban street, injuring their Lebanese grandmother in the process.
Faulkner and the 60 Minutes team spent almost two weeks in prison before the children's father, Ali Elamine, agreed to drop personal charges of kidnap against them in return for what is believed to be a significant payout - reportedly up to $A500,000 - from Network Nine.
Documents provided to the Lebanese court show the network had already paid $A115,000 for the story that aimed to document the recovery of the two children.
Whittington, Michaels, Hamza and Barbour were left out of the deal and remain in Aley Prison on the outskirts of Beirut, desperate for release.
They have accused the Nine Network of commissioning them to undertake the recovery of the children which would be filmed for a 60 Minutes story and then abandoning them to the Lebanese justice system.
Faulkner has been in a custody battle with Elamine over their two children since May 2015 when Elamine took them on a holiday to Lebanon and did not return them to Australia.
She gave up her Australian Family Court-sanctioned custody of the children in exchange for her release from prison and says despite an agreement with Elamine, she has not been allowed to speak to or Skype with her Lahela or Noah since she left Lebanon in late April.
Her Lebanese lawyer, Ghassan Moughabghab, admits he is worried about the outcome.
He has submitted a separate report of precedents to Judge Karam for his consideration.
"There is a lot of decisions here in Lebanon saying if a mother takes her child it is not considered kidnapping - we hope he will consider these cases when he makes his decision," Mr Moughabghab said.
These precedents will have no bearing on the fate of the journalists facing charges.
Meanwhile, Whittington and the three others still in prison have been refused bail.
Their lawyers have appealed that decision and the outcome of that appeal will be released at the same time as the decision on criminal charges against Faulkner and the Nine Network team, Judge Abdullah said.
