2017-01-23

Ramallah

West Bank

On the 23rd of January, MUSAWA held a session in cooperation with the Independent Commission for Human Rights, the Civic Coalition for Monitoring the Legislative Process and the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN) to discuss the Draft Decree-Law on High Criminal Court, following the reactions this has provoked among numerous legal figures and competent Civil Society Organizations, as the decree-law violates the Palestinian Basic Law and the binding international agreements Palestine has acceded to, particularly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, for they embody the principles of fair trial guarantees, equality before the law and the judiciary and the protection of basic human rights and freedoms. The attendees included many legal figures and representatives of governmental institutions and Civil Society Organizations.

At the end of the session, participants recommended the following: 

It is highly essential to combine the efforts of CSOs, including the Civic Coalition for Monitoring the Legislative Process, in order to reach a unified vision regarding the aforementioned draft decree-law. It is very important to put pressure and advocate against the issuance of this decree-law, and to maintain continuous communication with the UN’s legislation coordinator to get the necessary support and pressure to prevent the issuance of this decree-law, or any other one that might contradict with the provisions of the Basic Law and international treaties. Finally, the attendees stressed the vitality of examining the broad terms which are used in the decree-law, such as “State security crimes”.