4. Right to personal freedom Personal liberty is a fundamental right of each individual, enshrined in Article 11, paragraph 1, of the Palestinian Constitution: “Personal freedom is a natural right, shall be guaranteed and may not be violated.” Freedom is not an absolute right: according to ICCPR Article 9, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.” Similarly, Article 29 of the Palestinian CPC states that “No person may be arrested or imprisoned except by order of the competent authority as designated by law.” Both legal systems therefore make the lawfulness of deprivation of personal liberty directly dependent on the compliance with procedures established in domestic law, which must regulate the cases when a person can be deprived of liberty, and the maximum duration of such deprivation. a) Maximum duration of detention Under the CPC Article 119, a defendant can be detained by the police for a maximum of 24 hours or up to 48 hours based on a Prosecutor’s order. Prior to the expiry of this term, the prosecutor may request the conciliation judge to extend the detention for a maximum of fifteen days. Pursuant to Article 120 of the CPC, the conciliation judge may impose detention against the defendant for a period of not more than fifteen days.” Pursuant to Article 120 of the CPC, the Conciliation Judge may extend an order detention for other periods to an aggregate maximum of forty-five days. Prior to the expiry of this term, the defendant must be released, unless an application for detention is submitted by the Attorney General to the Court of First Instance, which can further extend detention for a period not exceeding forty-five days. Article 120 further states that pre-trial detention cannot exceed six months in total. Upon expiry of this maximum term, if the accused has not been formally referred to the competent court for prosecution, s/he is to be released “immediately”. In any case, pursuant to paragraph 4 of the same article, “an arrestee's detention may not continue for longer than the period of the penalty prescribed for the crime by reason of which he is detained.” Despite these clear legal provisions, ISTIQLAL has monitored cases where defendants have been in pre-trial detention for over six months, without their trial having started. In one case monitored by ISTIQLAL, during the first trial hearing held on 16.12.2019, the defendant stated that he had been arrested three years before on suspicion of having committed a very lenient offence (attempted theft in a place of worship). The trial was completed during that very same first hearing and ended with the conviction of the defendant. ISTIQLAL also observed cases and cases where pre-trial detention exceeded the maximum statutory term foreseen for the crime alleged. Despite these concerning cases, ISTIQLAL observed that generally Public Prosecutors in the West Bank and Gaza Strip submitted case files to the competent Court for trial within the 40