2017-10-16

Ramallah & Gaza

West Bank / Gaza

MUSAWA Holds Consultation Round:
“Reconciliation and the Justice System: MUSAWA Publications Oversight Role in Highlighting Needs and Shortcomings”

MUSAWA – The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession held a consultation round, on 16/10/2017, both in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (via video conference) to discuss how MUSAWA’s periodic publications shed light on the needs and shortcomings of the justice system. This meeting is particularly important in light of the reconciliation, following a decade of division between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. As two of MUSAWA’s monitoring tools over the justice system, Eye on Justice (20) and Justice and Law (29) were discussed throughout the meeting, in addition to seeking possible means of developing these publications in what serves MUSAWA’s work as a watchdog organization.

The Chairman of MUSAWA’s Board of Directors, Dr. Talib Awad, opened the session with a speech stressing MUSAWA’s commitment to the development of its monitory tools, leading to a more developed Palestinian justice sector. A brief of the latest publications was provided by MUSAWA’s Legal Monitoring Officer, Adv. Angham Mansour. In addition, a short video regarding the views of judges and lawyers on MUSAWA’s publications was presented for the attendees. The attendees included members of MUSAWA’s General Assembly both from the west Bank and Gaza.

The session brought together 55 participants, including 20 women, who are legal professionals from the Sharia judiciary; the Advisory and Legislation Bureau/ Gaza; the Public Prosecution Office; Civil Society Organizations such as Miftah, the Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and Hurryat; and a large number of lawyers from all governorates.

At the end of the session, the participants gave recommendations that workshops should be held by legal experts for the purpose of discussing legal considerations in light of the reconciliation, in addition to conducting trainings that conform with the current situation in order to address the judicial rulings and laws which were issued during the period of division. Furthermore, the participants asked for capacity building for lawyers in monitoring the violations that take place in the justice system, as well as training lawyers and Public Prosecution members in the West Bank and Gaza. They also suggested that Justice and Law magazine, as an academically assessed publication, become limited to legal research, and that other publications should be allocated for commenting on final judgments, or that it becomes clear in the title of the publication that it contains comments of this kind. Finally, the participants recommended that in addition to the hard copies of the publications videos should be made about the comments on the judicial rulings, as a supportive tool.