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The Article went even further to address a legal procedure in order to pursue
those behind the disruption of the enforcement of court rulings, and doing so
with clearly stipulated punishment, with its minimum exemplified as suspension
from office for those who are civil servants or delegated to public service, and
beyond suspension the Article provides for imprisonment.
II‐ Disruption of the PLC Functions and its Impact on Accountability
Generally, the Palestinian Legislative Council is responsible for two main tasks:
drafting legislation and control over the functions of the Executive Authority by
subjecting all the operations of the Executive Authority to overseeing,
accountability and parliamentarian accountability.
The Basic Law sets forth the accountability mechanisms to be followed by PLC
members in Paragraph (2) of Article (74) and Paragraph (3) of Article (56). Both
Articles visibly state the importance of holding the Government, or Ministers, or
any public figures of equivalent rank, over matters of public issues, political
question of public interest or decisions that have direct impact on the citizens'
rights. Evidently, Article (57) of the Basic Law permits ten PLC members to submit
a request to withdraw confidence in a Government or Minster in case the
interpellation results in the formation of an opinion that the Government's public
policy is either inconsistent with the public interests, contradictory to any rights
and freedoms, or not in harmony with the governmental agenda on the basis of
which the PLC granted its confidence to the Government.
Similarly, Article (58) of the Basic Law emphasizes the PLC’s overseeing role in the
consolidation of accountability and responsibility by delegating to the Council the
authority for the formation of fact finding committees to inquire into public
issues or matters. This delegation is extended to all kinds of inquiries, whether
they seek to investigate issues pertinent to public rights and freedoms,
corruption or nepotism, or in order to review the performance of any public
institutions. The same Article permits the PLC to refer to its permanent
committee to investigate issues of public interest. The most prominent form of
accountability is contained within Article (64) of the Basic Law, which obligates
the government to "present the draft budget to the Legislative Council at least
two months prior to the start of the fiscal year" where the PLC is entitled to
request whatever amendments it deems appropriate. However in case no
agreement is reached in the Council on the ratification of the proposed general
budget, this may lead to the withdrawal of confidence in the government.
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