2020-09-21

West Bank

West Bank / Announcement / position paper

MUSAWA's Monitoring Report on the Entrance Exam for the Legal Profession September 2020

His Excellency the President of the Palestinian Bar Association, Adv. Jawad Obeidat, 

The Members of the Palestinian Bar Association’s Council, 

Subject: MUSAWA's Monitoring Report on the Entrance Exam for the Legal Profession September 2020

MUSAWA- The Palestinian Center for The Independence of the Judiciary and the Lega Profession extends it warmest greetings to you, noting that further to the letter sent by your distinguished association, containing an invitation to take part in overseeing the procedures of the Entrance Exam for the Legal Profession, held on 17/9/2020, between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm, at the buildings of the Graduate Studies, the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Administrative Sciences, the Faculty of Law and Security Studies, and the Independence Building at Al-Isteqlal University/Jericho, MUSAWA delegated a team to monitor the mentioned exam, headed by Adv. Shorouq Abu- Qare’, while its membership was shared among five members of Lawyers, namely: Adv. Oday Shaker, Adv. Hamada Al-Atrash, Adv. Abdullah Al-Shareef, Adv. Moayad Abu Assaf, and Adv. Shorouq Shweiki.  

The team monitored the examination procedures from the beginning to the end, and the team members applauded the observers and examiners' commitment to health safety measures, as they were wearing masks and promoted social distancing, however, not all of them were committed to wearing gloves. 

Although MUSAWA’s team have commended the positive atmosphere of the exam, it prepared a list of observations for your perusal:

1. In some halls, the exam started at 10:30, while it started at 11:30 in other halls.
2. The Examination Commission’s selection of observers was not fair in terms of gender, since some halls did not have female directors.
3. MUSAWA commends the observers’ adherence to the control rules and procedures, as one observer took legal action against an examiner, who used his cellphone for cheating, indicating that your Council has taken into account MUSAWA ‘s observations of the recent practice exam held in Jenin
4. It was noticed that the number of observers is disproportionate to the number of examinees, since one hall had 6 observers and only 10 examinees, while another had had only 4 observes monitoring 50 examinees.

As we look forward to continued adherence to the transparency procedures in the upcoming examinations, we will commit to practicing our professional oversight role neutrally and realistically and look forward to the proper implementation of our observations.

With All Due Respect

Issued on 21/9/2020

The head of MUSAWA’s Monitoring Team

The Legal Awareness & Training Officer

Adv. Shurooq Abu-Qare'