2022-08-10

West Bank

West Bank / Announcement / Core Program / position paper

The Judicial Decision to Stop the Strike of the Engineers Association in Defiance of the Principle of Open Justice and the Right of Defense

Following the Administrative Court’s decision to stop the Engineers Association’s strike without calling it for trial, without hearing its defenses and in absentia, and in a secret manner that defies the principle of open justice and the right of defense, MUSAWA considers the said ruling, which came, according to its wording, an implementation of the Administrative Courts Decree-law, as a serious infringement on the rights of litigants, an abolition of fair trial guarantees, and a violation of constitutional principles including the Basic Law and international covenants binding on the State of Palestine to guarantee the natural right of defense and confrontation, the right to a public trial, and equality between litigants. MUSAWA points out that what the court relied on is similar to what was included in the Decree-law amending the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedures, which were abolished today following the movement of the Bar Association and the issuance of the report of the International Committee against Torture. MUSAWA wonders about the constitutional basis for implementing a text the equivalent of which has been abolished, and on which statements and reports were issued by official committees formed by a presidential decree that showed that many decree- laws came in violation of the provisions of Article 43 of the Basic Law and were issued in closed rooms and in the darkness and without consultation with specialists. MUSAWA recalls that the administrative court is logically and realistically supposed to have been aware of this abolishment and those recommendations.

MUSAWA recalls its statement issued following the issuance of the Administrative Courts Decree-law, which it then demanded to be abolished and clarified its negative effects and severe damage to the rights of litigants, noting that the first judicial decision issued by the Administrative Court was a decision to stop the Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Association’s strike in the end of late March.

MUSAWA stresses again on the dangers of the Executive Authority's dominance and its individuality in appointing judges and the direct subordination of the judicial administration to it, the thing that negates the independence of the judiciary as an institution and as judges. The main defect that brutally affects the independence of the judiciary lies in the Executive Authority’s individuality in carrying out appointments and implementing security safety in this regard, and turns the judiciary into a tool for implementing the directions and desires of the Executive Authority, even if human rights and principles of justice are violated, therefore the judicial rulings become more of like administrative orders with judicial approval or seal. Noting that the decision to stop the strike represented, in fact, a chapter on the subject of the dispute, in which we see a contravention of the nature of the urgent request and the decision issued in its regard.

Therefore, we, in MUSAWA, demand the abolishment of the Administrative Courts Law and all other decree-laws that mess up with judicial affairs, and the actual commitment to the right to litigation in accordance with the Basic Law and then the international covenants, so that we do not fall into chaos and lawlessness and take the law into one’s hands, and in order not to legitimize government decisions that affect the rights and livelihoods of citizens, and in order for the officials in the same regime not be internationally accountable for violating the international covenants and treaties they signed and joined.

Issued on 10.08.2022

MUSAWA