2020-04-28

West Bank

West Bank / Announcement / position paper

MUSAWA Demands the Abolition of Decree-laws 4 and 12 of 2020

Let the voice rise high to abolish Decree-laws No. 4 and 12 of 2020, as silence undermines the rights and security of people and disturbs civil peace

As usual, while people are staying at home to ensure their survival from the pandemic, and without any social participation, or commitment to the provisions of the Basic Law, or any official placement, decree-law No. 4 of 2020 was passed on 27/29 2020 to amend the Law on the Remuneration and Salaries of Legislative Council Members, members of the Government and Governors No. 11 of 2004 and its amendments, and was published in the Palestinian Official Gazette on 19/3/2020, provided that it shall enter into force from its date of issuance. Moreover, decree-Law No. 12 of 2020 was passed on 16/4/2020 to amend the General Retirement Law No. 7 of 2005 and its amendments and was published in the Palestinian Official Gazette on 20/4/2020, provided that it shall enter into force from its date of issuance.

After considering the content of the two mentioned decree-laws, and while we maintain our opposition to the policy of issuing decree-laws, on grounds of unconstitutionality and usurpation of the powers of the Legislative Council vested with legislative power and oversight functions, we believe that they entail a coarse violation of the provisions of the Basic Law and the constitutional principles, cause serious damage to the public treasury, deepen the economic crisis, and involve a violation of the principle of equality, not to mention that they also threaten the civil peace, as they deepen the gap between rich and poor citizens in terms of number and wealth, and expose the public treasury and the public pension fund to deficits, if not bankruptcy.

While the mentioned decree-laws were supposed to address the legislation contained in Law No. 11 of 2004 and its amendments, which are considered to be contrary to the Basic Law and the principles of pension rights, and imply unjustified discrimination between ministers, governors, members of the Legislative Council and other public officials, by obliging them to pay the contributions due to join the General Retirement Fund, we found that decree-law No. 4 of 2020 provided for the following:

1. Like the members of the Legislative Council, the members of the Government, and the governors, another segment of senior officials have been granted an illegal privilege to receive pensions without a minimum contribution to the Pension Fund. This segment, whose exact number is not known-, has ministerial rank, unconditional pensions, and the right to recover the contributions they made to the Pension Fund since assuming their public office, as stated in article 2 of Law No. 4 of 2020.
2. The fourth article of the decree-law authorized the President and members of the Legislative Council, the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers, and governors to receive both their pension entitlements from the Palestinian Public Treasury and any other retirement entitlements that have been or will be incurred by any other non-governmental source. 
3. The second paragraph of the fourth article provides that the period of imprisonment on a national background or the full-time employment in the institutions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) or its factions, of those who served as prime ministers, ministers, or governors, shall be taken into account when calculating their pension under the provisions of the law, by calculating (2%) For each year for them, if they are not subject to previous pension law.
4. The mentioned decree-law also provided for retaining the legal status earned by its beneficiaries in the past, includes a text that indicates its entry into force from its date of issuance, corresponding to 27/2/2020, and brings financial benefits to its beneficiaries, as a result of the recovery of their contributions made to the pension fund before receiving the ministerial rank, not to mention that they were exempted from paying any contributions to the fund and that they were granted unconditional pensions.  

On the other hand, the second paragraph of article number seven of the Decree-Law No. 12 of 2020 amending the General Retirement Law No. 7 of 2005 and its amendments, which was passed on 16/4/2020, included that the service of the ministerial–ranked officials shall continue until they reach sixty-five years of age, in clear discrimination between them and other State employees, which constitutes an amendment to the Civil Service Law, by which the service of a public official ends at the age of sixty. It is also significant that the legislator ensured equality among senior officials while compromising the principle of equality between them and other public officials.

The preamble of the two mentioned decree-laws did not refer to the legal basis alleged to be mentioned in the Basic Law, or the authority assigned to issue it, which means that they were issued without the permission and knowledge of the Government. However, the silence of the government reflects that it welcomed the issuance of such decree-laws and that it failed to act.  

MUSAWA- The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession believes that these two decree-laws waste public money and put the public treasury and the pension fund into deficit and collapse, which shall deepen the economic crisis, and put the lives and stability of public officials, their families, and their economic and social security at even greater risk, which may result in threatening the civil peace and social stability. 

Surprisingly, the two decree-laws were announced amid the government's silence, which resorted to collective deductions from the public officials, who do not have a ministerial rank or an equivalent status, by forcing them to donate two working days to support the governmental efforts in the pandemic. In their turn, the public employees were hoping that the government would increase their salaries and reward doctors and nurses, who sacrifice their lives and their families' lives in defense of the lives and safety of their community against the pandemic.

The government's attempts to justify the unlawful compulsory salary deduction have been refuted by the issuance of the two aforementioned decree-laws, which express that citizens and public officials are responsible for the protection of the country and its senior officials, and that the senior officials shall enjoy all the bounties of the country reaped by hardworking citizens and public officials.

In our view, it is necessary to call for the abolition of these decree-laws, and the repeal of the Government's recommendation for deduction a two-day payment of the public officials' salaries, as accepting such legislation undermines the rights and security of people and disturbs civil peace.

Issued on 28/4/2020

MUSAWA

*Later, the Prime Minister published a post on Facebook indicating that the salary deduction will be optional.