penalties were imposed in less than 20% of cases and, conversely, perpetrators were sentenced with minimum sentences in over 70% of cases. As already noted, sentencing by First Instance Courts was comparatively stricter, especially for crimes such as murder and narcotics-related offences where maximum penalties were imposed in over 30% of cases. Conversely, some crimes were treated in a comparatively more lenient fashion, such as rape/sexual assault, theft, forgery. It is concerning that false testimony was by far the crime that received the most lenient penalties, considering that it is a crime that constitutes a serious threat to the administration of justice as a whole. Chart 7 Severity of sentencing by crime type - West Bank First Instance Courts 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Legal minimum In between Legal maximum 5. Judgments based on Israeli military orders The Palestinian Courts of First Instance in the West Bank and the courts in Gaza Strip base their provisions on a mixture of legislation in force; such as the Jordanian Penal Code of 1960 that applies in the West Bank, the Egyptian Penal Code of 1936 that applies in the Gaza Strip, in addition to Palestinian legislation approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council established in 1996 and active until 2007, when the political division between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip occurred. Additionally, some criminal cases before Palestinian courts are still based on Israeli military orders that are still part of the applicable law. During the reporting period, First Instance Courts issued only twelve judgments based on Israeli Military Orders. All were narcotics-related cases, based on Military Order No. 558 of 1975 on dangerous drugs (Articles 6, 7, 8, 13 and 32). In nine cases the defendants were charged with possession, use of and trafficking of drugs or narcotic substances; two cases involved charges of cultivating dangerous drugs; one case of 20