2020-08-11

West Bank

West Bank / Announcement / position paper

Success story: MUSAWA succeeds in getting the Criminal Investigation Department to submit to a judicial decision to release a juvenile

Article 106 of the Basic Law and Article 82 of the Judicial Authority Act provides that “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 the 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”.

The beginning of the problem

On 28/7/2020, MUSAWA- the Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession, received a complaint from the mother of a 14-year-old juvenile, born in 2020, stating that her son was suspended at the request of Salfit’s Governor. A week later, the governor realized that the detainee is a juvenile and retracted his decision. However, the criminal investigation department continued to arrest the juvenile, with the criminal investigations departments of Qalqilya, Salfit, and Nablus investigated him while in custody. He was then transferred to the Magistrate court, which ordered his arrest for seven days, followed by another arrest order for another six days. On the morning of the 21st day of his arrest (Sunday 9/8/2020), the Court decided to release him, but the Criminal Investigation Department refused the Court's decision, claiming that he shall be held in custody.

In their turn, the juvenile's mother and lawyer approached MUSAWA with a request to intervene in binding the criminal investigation department to respect the court's decision and to release the juvenile.

MUSAWA’s Interventions

In the light thereof, MUSAWA has communicated with the Attorney-General, as the director of the judicial officer in the matter of the complaint, and his assistant, requesting that the criminal investigation department be compelled to implement the court's decision and to release the juvenile immediately, given that keeping him arrested after the court's decision falls under the umbrella of the offense of unlawful detention and the offense of non-execution of judicial rulings and decisions, in a flagrant violation of the Basic Law and the law of the judiciary, and in a flagrant contradiction with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the principle of the best interest of juveniles, not to mention that if also falls under the offense of corruption, as it entails an abuse of power and public function.

MUSAWA emphasized that the continuation of the juvenile's detention is the responsibility of the criminal investigation, the prosecution, and the judiciary, and noted that this clear violation of the law coincides with the Public Prosecution's sponsorship of an event to discuss the role of the media in protecting the interests of juveniles, which must be safeguarded by the justice system itself in the first place.

Criminal Investigation Complies with Court Decision and Release the Juvenile

Following MUSAWA’s intervention and follow-up of the complaint and the legal consequences thereof, the Criminal Investigation Department complied on Sunday, 8/9/2020 with the court's decision to release the juvenile, and released him at 9:30 p.m.

MUSAWA stressed the importance of complying with the court's decision while noting that continuing the juvenile's detention from the time of the decision until 9.30 p.m. is a violation of human rights and a departure from the provisions of the law, which requires accountability and compensation in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law and the law of the judiciary.