The Independent Commission for Human Rights
Adapting the Law of Public Retirement
No. 7 of 2005 to the Convention
The Palestinian Law of Public Retirement No. 7 of 2005, particularly
articles (32) and (33), contradict the principle of equality between men
and women by the way it defines the conditions for the successor(s) to
benefit from a retirement pension. Article (33), for example, states:
“The husband, upon the death of his wife, shall be entitled to
the share that is determined in the table, if he was at the time
of her death suffering from a physical disability prohibiting
him from earning a living. The state of his disability shall be
proven by a decision of a medical committee appointed by
the Commission. At the time of death, he shall not have a
private income, which is equal to or exceeds the amount of
his entitlement to the retirement pension. If the income is less
than the amount to which he is entitled, a retirement pension
shall be paid to him in the amount of the difference. In such
case, the remainder of the retirement pension due to the wife
shall be distributed to the beneficiaries within the limits set
forth in the following table in Article 34 without the presence
of the husband.”
This provision runs counter to the Palestinian Amended Basic Law, of
which article (9) confirms that all the Palestinians are equal before the
law without distinction as to race, sex, color, religion, political opinion or
disability. It is clear that the Palestinian Basic Law confirms equality of
all the Palestinians before the law, and there is to be no discrimination
between men and women, including women’s rights to enjoy the same
rights and treatment as men. Thus, paragraph (7) of article (32) and
paragraph (6) of article (33) of the Palestinian Law of Public Retirement
need to be amended in order to conform to the principle of equality
stated under the Convention. As part of the Convention’s tenets urging
States to respect and embody the principle of equality between men and
women in all their national laws and legislations, it also refers to the States
ensuring translation and implementation of equality in their public and
private institutions’ practices, and that they are to draft and promulgate
legislation which promotes equality and prohibits discrimination.
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