2023-08-22

West bank

West Bank / position paper

MUSAWA obtained a copy (attached above) of a presidential decree issued on August 16, 2019, amending the formation of the High Coordinating Council of the Justice Sector, which was formed pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 7 of 2019 issued on July 31, 2019. This new amended decree added the following members to the Council: Chief justice of "Sharia Judiciary", president of the Supreme Administrative Court "Administrative Judiciary", and chief of the Security Forces Judiciary “Military Justice”.

This new decree came shortly after the issuance of presidential decree No. 17 of the year 2022, canceling the formation of the High Council for Judicial Bodies, which was issued on 28/10/2022 and published on 23/11/2022, and was subsequently repealed by presidential decree No. 2, which was issued on 12/07/2023.

MUSAWA believes that this act of amending the formation of the High Coordinating Council of the justice sector, as outlined in the new decree, is a method of reinstating the same purpose as the repealed decree of the formation of the high council for judicial bodies, indicating a clear abandonment of the repeal decision.

This cancellation, as described by MUSAWA, changes nothing regarding the justice system's subordination to the president, that goes against the Basic Law and the principle of separation of powers, given that this new amendment maintains the president's control over the justice sector, as evidenced by his legal advisor's membership on the council.

MUSAWA finds it intriguing that this new decree keeps the police as a member of the High Coordinating Council, despite the fact that it is merely a law enforcement agency with no judicial function, much like the president's legal advisor. In addition, the Constitutional Court, despite being a part of the official justice system, is not a member of the High Coordinating Council, nor is the administrative or military Prosecutions, despite the fact that the Supreme Administrative Court and the military justice are. This may indicate the imminent arrival of an amendment that will add them as members to the High Coordinating Council for the Justice Sector.

MUSAWA placed particular emphasis on the inclusion of the police in the Council, which adds a security dimension to its work, reinforcing the executive authority's control over all pillars of the official justice system through the membership of the President's legal advisor and the director general of police in the council.

MUSAWA states that the new decree is structurally and functionally similar to the repealed decree, indicating that the repeal decision has been clearly and actually abandoned.