2019-01-23

West Bank and Gaza Strip

West Bank / Gaza / position paper

Position Paper on the Judicial Decision to Stop the Appointment of the General Attorney and the Assignment of the Acting Attorney General

Recently, Social Media platforms reported filing an appeal against the decision to assign Adv. Akram Alkhatib as the acting attorney general, following the appeal filed by a chief prosecutor against assigning Adv. Akram Alkatib as the assistant attorney general, which all took place in the aftermath of releasing a judicial resolution to temporary suspend the decision to appoint Dr. Ahmad Barrak as the Attorney General of Palestine, until the final determination of the applied appeal on the appointing decision issued by the plenum of the Supreme Court of Justice, which has issued the mentioned resolution on the Attorney General suspension. All of these spillovers drew attention to the invalidity and illegality of the justice system’s decisions on holding judicial posts and duties, and raised the profile of more pending appeals against the lack of implementation of the judicial office’ appointing conditions, including the appeal list against appointing the High Court Judge, Ahmad Almoghanni, that was published and reported on Social Media platforms, noting that this appeal decision is not yet addressed nor adjudicated, as to that the appeal against appointing the High Court Judge, Izzat Alramini, and the reported news on a Magistrates Court’s judge neglecting two appeals against appointing the High Court Judges, Ibrahim Amro and Mohammad Sameh Dweik, without adjudicating the cases, in addition to neglecting the adjudication in the appeal against choosing the judge, Ibrahim Amro, as a member in the High Judicial Council to succeed the judge, Abdullah Ghuzlan, whose membership in the council was terminated without a clear legal justification, and thus, he was prevented from attending the council’s meetings, leaving the high judicial council with 8 members instead of 9 to the contrary of article 37 of the Judicial Authority Act. This has paved the way to appealing against the issued decisions on appointing judges depending on interpretation issued by the High Judicial Council, which is improperly formed and thus lost the validity of its legal reconvene as its membership is not fully complete, and some members are not free to practice their membership, which represents a qualitative variation from the case of having the legal quorum to hold one of the council’s meetings. Bearing in mind the rejection of two appeals against appointing the judge, Hisham Alhatu as the Deputy of the Supreme Court, and recalling many appeals filed to the Supreme Court by judges who doubt the legality of promoting their colleagues to higher judicial posts, considering that they are more deserving in comparisons with those chosen for promotion. The mentioned appeals include the different judicial levels, especially the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

MUSAWA- the Palestinian Center for the Independence of the judiciary and the Legal Profession believes that the current impasse of the judicial system, especially the Judiciary and the Public Prosecution, invokes a rapid response to the pressing national needs for the following:    

1-    Forming a reliable, professional, and independent committee to assess the performance of all the workers in the judiciary and the public prosecution (starting from the top positions) without any exemptions, including the identification of appointing procedures that apply on all judges and public prosecution’s member, which will ensure the legitimacy and legality of the judicial structure. Forming such a committee is not only an administrative procedure but a national need and a mean for ensuring the community stability and protecting the legal costs for both legal and normal people.

2-    Accounting the successive judicial administrations for the serious professional mistakes that marred by their formation, meetings, and decision, for it is a shame having Supreme Court judges, well-known legal personnel, and political employees who are unaware of the basics of administrative work, yet, and who meet and issue their decisions, that have social significant impact, in violation of the law.

3-    Reconsidering the performance of the departments, bodies, and individuals who conduct the functions of the President’s legal advisors, and holding them accountable for their misconduct in the performance of their duties, as it is axiomatic that these bodies and individuals identify the validity of the action prior to the President’s decision.

4-    Publishing the Proceedings of the High Judicial Council’s meetings, as the performance of the judiciary is not a personal advantage or right of its officials. In fact, it is a social right and constitutional requirement for the people, especially that the work of the High Judicial Council is not a judiciary one, but an administrative one that does not affect the requirements of the national security that might be an obstacle for the publication.

5-    Demanding the High Judicial Council and the head of the Supreme Court to state the reasons that delayed the adjudicating of the appeals against the judicial appointments.  

6-    Demanding the High Judicial Council and the judicial system officials, including the legal department at the President’s office, to state the procedures considered for addressing and correcting the judicial appointments, and ascertaining their conditions, as neglecting the appeals against the validity of the appointments does not legalize appointments’ decision, such as the case of challenging the appointing decisions of both judges, Ibrahim Amro and Mohammad Sameh Dweik.

MUSAWA believes that the deterioration in the justice system did not only affect its performance but also its structure, what confirms the accuracy of the vision that the crux of the justice crises is the crisis of the structure, administration, and human performance, even before struggling with the legal texts. The deepening of the crises in that manner means that the community security and the civic peace are in grave danger that carries with it destructive results that could affect the system’s hierarchy and the community security. Thus, we call our partners in the Civil Society Organizations, the parties’ representatives, the community forces, and all that lawyers who care for the unity of our nation, its present, and future, to raise their voices calling and pressing the duty bearers and decision makers to rapidly respond to our before-mentioned demands, as this is a public concern and its potential is purely national.     

Issued on 23/11/2019

MUSAWA