2018-08-05

Gaza

Gaza / position paper

His Excellency Head of the High Judicial Council, Advisor Abdul Ra’ouf Al-Halabi, / Gaza

Subject: unlawful charging of fees decided by employees

MUSAWA – The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession extends their warmest greetings to you, noting that on 31 July 2018 the center received a written complaint from the lawyer Rushdi Asaad Al-Heiqi from Tall-AlHawa in Gaza, claiming that a financial raise was charged on the execution case’s fees No. 7150/2018 which has the purpose of demanding the complainant- lawyer’s- fees.

The complainant added that the competent official in Gaza’s execution department Yahya Syam, has raised the fees of the execution action’s list from 35 shekels to 40 shekels, and when the lawyer questioned this raise, the answer was “should I consider the raise as an act of charity form you?”.

As an independent non-governmental watchdog organization, MUSAWA believes that the contents of the complaint, if true, constitute a serious indication of administrative employees’ violation of the Basic Law and the existing legislation that provide for the lawful fees charges, adjusting or canceling them. MUSAWA also considers such irresponsible behaviors as ways to substitute the rule of the law as they are adopted by incompetent bodies that unlawfully charge fees on the citizens according to some of the judicial authority employees’ personal considerations.  Such actions do not only lead citizens to lose their trust in Law constitutions’ performance, but even to lose trust in the judicial performance in general, as well as preventing litigants from their right to access to justice, and opening up horizons for corruption, nepotism and financial manipulation, especially that the justification used by the accused employee does not depend on any law or legislation issued by the administrative authority that this employee or the court he works for follow, noting that such actions are not legal unless they are charged by law.

Noting that breaking the law by the law system operators; like the regard of this memo, reaffirms the fact about the justice crises being a crises made by humans themselves not because of a problem in the law, which requires applying performance assessment principle as a proven way to guarantee that the employees with the suitable abilities are employed in the suitable vacant, and to transmit employees with different abilities to another public vacant, retirement or accountability, depending on MUSAWA’s initiative to unite and reform the judicial system that got your Excellency’s support and endorsement.

In light of what has been pointed out, we urge you to pay attention to our memo and to take the necessary legal action in this regard; and that is by starting a professional investigation in the unlawful charge of fees in the implementation departments, to apply both managerial and criminal monitoring and reporting mechanisms on those who break the law, in order to save the litigants, and to maintain the reputation of the judiciary’s members, as well as ensuring the rights of the complainant duly. Hoping your Excellency to keep us updated on the taken action its outcomes.

With all due respect

Issued on 5/8/2018                                                                      MUSAWA