2018-09-17

Ramallah

West Bank

MUSAWA's  Oversight Report on the Bar Association's Board Exam

His Excellency, Chairman of the Palestinian Bar Association, Advocate  Jawad Obeidat

MUSAWA- The Palestinian center for the independence of the judiciary and the Legal Profession extends its warmest greetings to your Excellency. We would like here to express our deep thanks to you for your letter (MST/ 3460/2018) to invite us to monitor the written exam of the law colleges graduated students held on 16/9/2018 between 10:00 and 12:00 am at the premises of the Law, Art, Science, and Engineering colleges-  Birzeit University.  In response to your letter, MUSAWA nominated two of its staff members, Adv. Shurooq Abu-Qare', the Legal Awareness and Training Officer and Ms. Ruba Bakeer, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer to monitor the exam. The representatives of MUSAWA monitored the exam’s halls and we're sure to be present from the beginning till the end. 

MUSAWA appreciates the Palestinian Bar Association’s position to take into consideration the remarks, which MUSAWA submitted as a result to the monitoring process, regarding closing the exam’s papers before transferring them out of the halls. Likewise, MUSAWA commends some of the positive aspects that accompanied the exam through the number of examinees was big. Most of the halls visited by MUSAWA’s team were disciplined, concessioner, and firmness as well as the ability to address any emerging issues smoothly and immediately. 

As a result, to the monitoring process, MUSAWA’s team documented the following remarks:

1-    Some halls were overcrowded although the exam was held during a day off at Birzeit University’s where there was a possibility to increase the number of halls according to the number of examines and avoid crowding   

2-    Delay in distributing the exam’s papers and consequently, the exam did not start in all the halls at the same time. 

3-    Regarding the inspection tours of the chairman and the board members of PBA to the exam halls, the way they moved together in one group could have affected negatively the examinees and could have caused disturbance and annoying in the corridors between the various halls. 

4-    There was a well noticed questionable slackness in Hall number 225- Engineering College premise.   Although the hall was crowded, yet, examinees were not distributed among the seats appropriately even when some examinees finished the exam and there were more available free seats, yet those who remained in the hall were not distributed among the seats in a suitable manner to ensure that there is a distance between each one and the other. Additionally, it was noticed that examinees talking to each other during the exam’s time. 

5-    MUSAWA’s team also noticed some vulnerabilities like the lack of appropriate ventilation in some halls that might affect the performance of examinees negatively. There was a shortage of answering booklets, in some halls, and so not all examinees were able to start at the same time. 

Recommendations

1-    Provide more and wider halls to overcome overcrowding.

2-    Ensure that all halls are ready to start the exam at the same time and have adequate time before starting to deal with and solve any emerging technical problems. 

3-    We recommend that the inspection rounds of the PBA chairman and board members to the various halls be in small groups and in a smooth way taking into consideration the importance of keeping a quietness to avoid disturbing the examinees. 

4-    Regarding the incidents in hall number 225- Engineering College premises, and with our due respect to the lawyers, halls’ observers and controllers; and our concern to avoid harming persons, yet, we demand to subject anyone, who contributed in violating the law regulations and create atmosphere for cheating, to the Disciplinary Board to take the necessary legal measurements and ensure that those persons would not be associated with similar tasks in the future, but this should not be applied to the persons who were not involved in the mentioned chaos. 

5-    To benefit from the experience of the disciplined halls and generate it among the other halls, and to apply specific measures and criteria in the future selection of halls managers and observers. 

6-    Although the problem shortage in the available exams’ booklets was addressed immediately and directly by halls’ controllers, yet, we expect that such problem would not take place within the future exams and so starting the exam on the same moment in all the halls. 

The previous comments are those we felt that should be presented.

With All Due Respect

Ahlam Tarayra

Executive Director

Issued on 17/9/2018