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II ‐ Most Important Problems Violating the Right to Litigation and
Guarantees of Fair Trial in Palestine
1‐ Delay and Procrastination in the Implementation of Court Decisions
It was noted during 2010 that the non‐enforcement of the rulings and
decisions108 made by the Supreme Court of Justice, particularly by PSS and GIS,
for the release of a number of citizens detained on grounds of “political
affiliation” as well as for the reopening of some closed associations, still
continued, and did so in forthright violation of Palestinian Basic Law. ICHR has
documented more than (179) violations on the issuance of court decisions. The
Executive Authority, with its Security and Civil branches, did not implement those
decisions in a timely manner. Most notable were violations of Article (106) which
states:
“Judicial decisions are enforceable and any form of defaulting of
their implementation is a crime punishable by imprisonment or
dismissal from office 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.”
What is interesting is the reply of the Secretary‐General of the Council of
Ministers to the request of the Supreme Court of Justice, which decided during its
consideration of the administrative proceedings (no. 2008/436), held by a public
employee, to mandate the Council of Ministers to provide the court with a copy
of the minutes of one of the Council's weekly sessions, session no. (18) held on
03/09/2007. It is this session, which is referred to in the Secretary‐General of the
Council of Ministers’ letter, that the Council of Ministers took a decision
regarding the security check as part of the recruitment process, without
publishing this resolution, or it being seen by anyone. Accordingly, the High Court
of Justice issued a decision, according to which the Secretary‐General provides it
with a copy of the minutes of the session. The response of the Secretary‐General
of the Council of Ministers to the High Court of Justice’s decision, which was
received by the Chairman of the Higher Judicial Council, stated literally: “We
deeply regret to inform you that we are not able to provide the esteemed Court ‐
Supreme Court of Justice – with a copy of the entire session in question, due to
the secrecy of the discussions and minutes of the Council of Ministers in
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The Supreme Court of Justice settled (658) out of (897) legal proceedings submitted to the court in 2009.
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