2018-09-13

Ramallah

West Bank

Once again, MUSAWA a watchdog to ensure executing judicial rulings

Article (106) of the Palestinian Basic Law and article (82) of the Judicial Authority Act state, “Judicial rulings shall be implemented. Refraining from or obstructing the implementation of a judicial ruling in any manner whatsoever shall be considered a crime carrying a penalty of imprisonment or dismissal from position if the accused individual is a public official or assigned to public service. The aggrieved party may file a case directly to the competent court and the National Authority shall guarantee a fair remedy for him”.

Beginning of the problem

On June 5^th, 2018, MUSAWA received a written complaint from the citizen Mr. Issam Hasib Hussein al-Barghouthi, stating that he rendered a final verdict by the High Court of Justice, annulling the decision of Ramallah Municipality to refer him to retirement according to the Palestinian Retirement system provided in the Palestinian General Retirement Law Number 7 of 2005, though the complainant should retire based on the General Retirement system, applied by Ramallah Municipality.

The complainant added that Ramallah Municipality Council refused implementing the Court’s ruling from the first day, which represents a clear violation of the Palestinian Basic Law, Judicial Authority Law, and Anti-Corruption Law, though the complainant kept urging the municipality to respect the court’s decision duly.

MUSAWA’s Interventions

According to the Basic Law and Judicial Authority Law mentioned above and according to the Anti-Corruption Law rules and UN Convention against Corruption, illegal refrain of any public employee from undertaking the duties of his job; or taking any decision or action that he/ she should take according to the law, is considered a misuse of power act or abuse of power or override job privileges, are all categorized within the corruption crimes.

Taking into consideration the previous mentioned details and in the light of its role to ensure respecting the Basic Law and protecting Palestinian citizens’ rights, MUSAWA submitted a legal memo, on June 10th, 2018, to his Excellency the head of the Anti-Corruption Commission. MUSAWA demanded examining the details of the complaint mentioned in the memo and to taking the necessary and immediate legal actions to implement the verdict. MUSAWA emphasized the necessity of accounting anyone who obstruct, refuse or tergiversate implementing judiciary ruling; and stressed the right of the complainant for compensation in accordance with the Basic Law and the law of the Judiciary Authority.  After one month with no reply from the Anti- Corruption Commission, MUSAWA sent the Commission a reminder to check the memo and to work towards implementing the judiciary ruling.    

On August 14^th, 2018, Ramallah Municipality’s Council decided in its session to commit to implement the judiciary decision that states to refer the complainant to retirement according to the Jordanian Retirement Law. The Municipality’s Council sent a written notification to the complainant about the decision (He provided MUSAWA with a copy of the Municipality’s letter).

Acknowledgment:

After receiving the letter of the municipality, Mr. Issam al- Barghouthi contacted MUSAWA to express his gratitude for the support he received. Mr. al- Barghouthi highly appreciated the fact that MUSAWA initiated immediately, once received the complaint, in sending a legal memo to the Head of the Anti-Corruption Commission who was very collaborative. Mr. al- Barghothi also mentioned the suffering he went through since issuing the court’s final verdict on 30/1/2018 till now and talked about his endless efforts to regain his rights.

It is worth being mentioned here that MUSAWA has been a watchdog to ensure executing the judicial rulings in this case and many other cases, through sending legal memos to the Anti-Corruption Commission and succeeded in protecting citizens’ rights duly.

Issued on 13/9/2018