2020-06-20

West Bank

West Bank / Announcement / position paper

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

His Excellency the President of the Palestinian Bar Association, 

The Members of the Palestinian Bar Association’s Council, 

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

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 17/6/2020, between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm, at the buildings of the Art, Law, Education, and Economics faculties of Birzeit University, MUSAWA delegated a team to monitor the mentioned exam, headed by Adv. Shorouq Abu- Qare’, while its membership was shared among 4 members of Lawyers, namely: Adv. Oday Shaker, Adv. Mohammad Saleh, Adv. Nour Malisah, and Adv. Moayad Abu Assaf, who monitored the examination procedures from the beginning to the end, noting that MUSAWA was the only civil society institution that monitored the examination, together with a representative of the Transitional Council and a representative of the Public Prosecution.

MUSAWA’s Monitoring Team applauds the observers' and examinees' commitment to health safety measures, as they were wearing masks and promoted social distancing, however, not all of them were committed to wearing gloves, not to mention that the initial screening was not efficient. 

MUSAWA’s Monitoring Team commends the positive atmosphere of the exam, as it stood convenient, quiet, and organized for most of the time, although some halls had a large number of examinees. However, the team had one major observation regarding some halls, where the exchange of questions and inquiries with the observers continued throughout the exam, while in many halls, the observers were answering some of the examiners' questions in a low voice and privately.

As MUSAWA wishes the Palestinian people, including lawyers and law student, good health and wellness, it perceives that in case your established council decided to proceed with the Practice Examination procedures, it shall ensure providing the requirements for initial screening, following the adopted medical standards, prohibit the continuing exchange of questions and answers throughout the exam period, allocate time at the beginning of the exam to ask questions, provided that the answers shall be provided to all examinees in a clear and loud tone, and prevent individual questions to maintain the rules of integrity and transparency and to prevent cheating.

We thank you for inviting us to participate in the supervision of the exam, hoping that you take our observations seriously and to consider them in the future, wishing you continued progress and success in the preservation of human rights and the embodiment of the principle of the rule of law.

With All Due Respect,

Issued on 20/6/2020

The head of MUSAWA’s Monitoring Team

The Legal Awareness & Training Officer

Adv. Shurooq Abu-Qare'