ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The National Coalition for the Reform and Protection of the Judiciary (ISTIQLAL) extends its sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to the development of this report, which is the first of its kind in Palestine to become a reality, particularly the heads of the judicial departments and chief judges in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip who facilitated the work of our researchers in monitoring the courts. We also extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Sawasya program, the Joint programme implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UN Women and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), for their support in terms of training, followup, and for funding the trial monitoring program. We wish to express our gratitude for the support by the Attorney General, the Palestinian Bar Association and the Judges Club Association, who contributed to the success of this report. Our thanks are extended as well to the coalition members of civil society organizations for their assistance and facilitation to the team to complete this report. We also thank the working team which developed the report and the monitoring of the trials in the field. We are grateful to all those who contributed to reviewing and provided feedback on this report, especially lawyers Fadel Najajrah, Ammar Jamous, Belal Barghouthi and everyone who contributed to this achievement. We hope that this study will inaugurate a tradition to strengthen community oversight over the courts, so as to enhance the effectiveness of the courts and their role in respecting fair trial guarantees. The National Commission for the Independence of the Judiciary (ISTIQLAL) and The Project Steering Committee 5