Palestine In Brief

Name of Country: Occupied Palestinian Territories

Map of Country:

Name of Capital City:

Type of State:

Administrative Divisions:
Sixteen electoral constituencies: Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Tubas, Salfit, Ramallah, Gaza North (Jabaliah), Gaza City, Deir El-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah

Date of Independence:
On August 20, 1993, representatives from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel signed an accord in Oslo, Norway.
On September 13, 1993, the leader of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, and the leader of the PLO, Yassir Arafat, signed the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (DOP) in Washington DC. The DOP provides for a five-year interim government until a permanent settlement is achieved.

Date of Constitution:
In February 1996 a Draft Basic Law for the National Authority in the Transitional Period was approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council to provide a provisional framework for the Palestinian state until a permanent settlement is achieved.
On May 29, 2002 the Basic Law was ratified by President Arafat. This Basic Law differs slightly from the draft law approved in 1996.

Head of State:
The head of the Palestinian National Authority is an elected president.
The powers of the president include serving as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces; initiating and proposing laws; and vetoing legislation within thirty days of its adoption in the legislature. The president may not be impeached by the legislature.
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was elected on January 9, 2005 as president of the Palestinian National authority. He succeeds Yasser Arafat who died on November 11, 2004. The executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chose Abbas as its chairman following Arafat's death.

Executive Branch:
The president, the prime minister and the cabinet form the executive branch.
The president appoints the prime minister, who forms the cabinet
The Palestinian authority created the position of prime minister in early May 2003. The Prime Minister, Mr. Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala’a), formed a new government on February 24, 2005.

Legislative Branch:
The unicameral legislative branch is composed of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
There are 132 elected members in the Palestinian Legislative Council. The president serves as the 133th member of the Council.

Judiciary Branch:
Article 91 of the Basic Law provides for a High Judicial Council, presided over by the Chief Justice, to serve as the administrative authority of the judiciary.
The Judicial Authority Act, passed by the legislature in 1999, gives the High Judicial Council the authority to regulate the training of judges.
The judiciary is composed of a hierarchy of courts: Magistrate Courts, Courts of First Instance, and the Courts of Appeal.
The Supreme Court is composed of a High Constitutional Court; a Court of Cassation to hear civil, criminal, and commercial matters; and a High Court of Justice to hear administrative disputes.
The High Constitutional Court has the authority to review laws and rules to ascertain their constitutionality.
The Court of Cassation and the High Court of Justice are at the apex of the ordinary judicial structure, serving as the final courts of appeal for issues in their respective departments.
In February 1995, the Higher State Security Court was established in Gaza to try crimes relating to the internal and external security of the state.

Relationship Between the Three Branches:
The 2002 Basic Law states that Palestine is a parliamentary democracy built on a separation of powers.
The Basic Law guarantees the independence of the judiciary.
The Palestinian Legislative Council, the presidency and cabinet, together with the judiciary and the ministries and other operational institutions, collectively form the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Elections:
Suffrage is extended to all Palestinians above the age of 18.
The president is elected for a five-year term. Voting in presidential elections takes place in a single constituency. No person may be elected president for more than two consecutive terms. The most recent presidential elections were held on January 9, 2005.
The 88 members of Palestinian Legislative Council are elected for five-year terms under the rules of the majoritarian system.
Voting takes place in 16 multi-member constituencies.
In the 1996 elections, six seats reserved for the Christian minority, and one seat was reserved for the Samaritan minority population.
The most recent legislative elections were held on January 25, 2006.

Membership in International Organizations:
United Nations: observer.
International Monetary Organization (IMF): not a member.
World Trade Organization (WTO): not a member.

   World Bank:
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD): not a member.
International Finance Corporation (IFC): not a member.
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA): not a member.
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID): not a member.

Ratification of Human Rights Conventions:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR): not ratified.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR): not ratified.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT): not ratified.
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD): not ratified.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW): not ratified.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): not ratified.
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families: not ratified yet.

Associational Life:
The Press is governed by the 1995 Palestinian Press Law. Article 37 of the Press Law prohibits publication of articles that may cause harm to national unity. Article 15 of the Draft Basic Law protects the freedom to form political parties. Civil Society is governed by the Law of Charitable Associations and Community Organization, which was passed in December 1998.
The chief political party in parliament is the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, or Fatah (Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filistini).
The executive branch houses the Ministry of Non-Governmental Organizations Affairs.