2018-08-28

Gaza Strip

Gaza

His Excellency the Head of the High Judicial Council, Advisor Abd Al-Raouf Al-Halabi/ Gaza

Subject: Judiciary Rules Code of Conduct: Repeated Violation; Exploiting Power in Violation of the Code, and Illegal Approaching of Losing Judiciary Files Phenomenon

The Palestinian center for the independence of the law and the legal profession extends their warmest greetings, stating that on August 14 2018 we received a written complaint from the citizen Mr. Ramez Khaled Dabbour, from Deir Al-Balah, including a claim about exploiting power by the head of the court of ………: ………., and violating the complainant’s rights that are supported by the fair trial guarantees and the principle of equality before the law and the judiciary, and by committing to the professional code of conduct that governs the judge’s relations with the opposing litigants.

The complainant noted that the mentioned judge tried him in absentia although he was available at the court hall more than once, and when he asked the judge and complained over his proceedings, the judge answered him: “let’s see who will last longer in this court hall” and refused his demands without respecting his complaint.

The complaint also included a note of the faulty treatment of losing the operational case file No 625/2011, as a new case file was filled with documents and dates that do not match the ones mentioned in the original case file, which MUSAWA sent your Excellency regard duly, reminding you excellency that we did not receive any answer on that memo yet.

The complainant was surprised when he found out that the case’s file was distorted, which was shown by the opaque regulations and the applications inside it, in addition to the clear fault in the regulation’s number which was issued on August 18, 2018, whereas the case is filed in 2012 in the official record of ……….. Court’s operational cases, besides, the imprisonment order issued in 2011 as it is attached in the file without noting to the fact that the case’s fees were paid, the mentioned imprisonment order was activated again what can cause the complainant extensive damage binding him to financial implications that are not supported by the law.

The complainant affirmed that the judge got used to refuse his administrative applications, as he refused his application to have a true copy of the issued decision on bringing the cases No 625/2018 and No 4747/2016 together to be decided upon at the same hearing session, what can cause the complainant his judicial right to access to justice.

As an independent non-governmental watchdog organization, MUSAWA believes that the contents of the said complaint, which has his signature and includes his willingness to bare all the consequences if his claims were proved invalid, if true, a violation of the judicial code of conduct, and an infringement of the right to a fair trial, and represents a wrong administrative understanding of the Illegal Approaching of Losing Judiciary Files Phenomenon, which became a source of  societal concern as it is a reiterated violation of the judicial code of conduct, an exploitation of the code,  and an Illegal Approaching of Losing Judiciary Files Phenomenon.

In view of what has been mentioned, MUSAWA asks your Excellency to consider our memo, to take the necessary legal action in its regard, to refer the defendant judge to the Judicial Inspection Service in order to be tried duly, and to answer our memos in this regard and our other memos while ensuring the complaint’s rights duly, if his complainant was proved true.

With All Due Respect

Issued on 28/8/2018                                                                 MUSAWA

Attachments

A copy of the complaint and its attachments

A copy of the submitted memo