2019-10-24

West Bank

Human Rights Defenders / West Bank / Announcement / position paper

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 Written Exam for Trainee Lawyers 2019

Further to the letter sent by your distinguished association on October, the 17th, containing an invitation to take part in overseeing the procedures of the trainee lawyers' written exam of 2019, MUSAWA – The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession, delegated a team to monitor the mentioned exam, which was held on October, the 20th, at the Law, Education and Arts faculties in Birzeit University. The delegation was headed by the Legal Monitoring Officer, Adv. Angham Mansour, while its membership was shared among seven members of Lawyers for the Rule of Law Group (Friends of MUSAWA), namely: Adv. May Abu-Kahled, Adv. Marwa Shreiteh, Adv. Oday Shaker, Adv. Hamza Shaheen, Adv. Oday Suleiman, Adv. Hadeel Hallasy, and Adv. Rawan Radi. 

MUSAWA applauds the positive atmosphere of the exam, as it stood convenient, quiet, and organized for most of the time. However, the committee prepared a list of observations for your perusal, which was made in compliance with the missteps monitored during the exam, to avoid falling into in the future:

1. Starting the exam fell behind schedule for nearly 20 minutes, not to mention the confusion amongst the halls regarding the starting time after that delay, whereas the exam was supposed to start at 11:00 am and end at 2:00 pm in all halls, according to the commission’s announcement on the exam.
2. Not all examinees had their ID cards before them on the desks.   
3. Some official observing members tended to leave the exam halls without assigning any other members to cover their absence.
4. Some official observing members tended to gather and chat both inside and outside the exams’ halls.  
5. The apparent shortage in the number of calculators available in the exam halls, as the exam announcement, made by the Bar Association, did not contain instructions on bringing calculators. For instance, one of the halls had only one calculator that was shared by all the examinees. 
6. The failure in regulating the exam halls, especially the small talks and questions that continued throughout the exam period, not to mention that some official observers tended to lowly answer individual questions raised by some examinees.
7. Some official observing members tended to smoke cigarettes inside the exam halls.
8. The apparent shortage in the number of female official observing members.

Accordingly, MUSAWA recommends the following:

1. Instructing the official commission of observing to adhere to the rule of behavior and the procedures of professional oversight.
2.  Making sure all halls are ready to start the exam at the same time, so all examinees can have equal shares of time.
3. Prohibiting smoking and chattering, both inside and outside the exam halls.
4. Increasing the number of female observers to achieve gender equality in the numbers of observers.
5. Regulating the questions raised by examinees during the exam, and in case of receiving a question worth asking, the observer shall provide the examinees with an audible and clear answer in exchange.
6.  Circulating the exam instructions to all observers and standardizing them in all halls.   
7. Including all that the examinees would need during the exam, including calculators and similar logistic equipment, in the exam’s announcement.  

With All Due Respect,

Issued on 24/10/2019

MUSAWA’s Monitoring Team

 The Legal Monitoring Officer

Adv. Angham Mansour