The legal unit

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The legal unit

An outline of the legal unit

The legal unit is one of the bodies of the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution, which undertakes to follow up the various legal situations at the internal and external level of the organisation. It works on preserving legal legitimacy and establishing its principles, provides legal advice, and also provides the service of judicial representation before the judicial authority in Palestine, and provides the service of mediation and arbitration according to the laws, regulations and instructions specific to them. The legal unit is considered the coordinating and organising body for the Centre's lawyers at all its branches in the governorates of the homeland in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

 

Vision

The legal unit looks to be among the pioneers in facilitating the access of all groups to justice by providing legal aid services, which include legal advice, judicial representation, mediation and arbitration according to the legislation in force in Palestine, in the various legal and social respects.

 

Mission

The mission of the legal unit is summed up in the slogan it carries, namely "Justice for all", where the unit seeks to achieve its mission through all the activities and services it provides, such as legal studies, spreading awareness, legal counsel, judicial representation in all its forms, mediation and arbitration, and forming a state of pressure towards applying justice in all the life aspects of the Palestinian citizen.

The objectives

  • Spreading legal awareness among various groups of Palestinian society through specialised workshops, legal training and simplified legal studies.
  • Enabling all groups, particularly the economically vulnerable groups, to reach justice at its various levels.
  • Resolving disputes by alternative means so as to save time and effort and the court fees that not everyone is able to pay.
  • Reaching a language of dialogue between the citizen, the local community and its institutions, in order to contribute to strengthening the citizen's rights in thought and in practice, and to involve them in decision-making.
  • Amending legislative policies so that they are consistent with citizens' various needs in the light of the international standards of human rights.
  • Coordinating and networking with the various legal institutions, and unifying the efforts made by civil society organisations.
  • Following up the draft laws issued by the Legislative Council and offering observations and proposals, to guarantee their consistency with the internationally accepted standards of human rights.

The work of the legal unit 

The legal unit at the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution provides legal aid services, which include legal advice, judicial representation, arbitration, mediation and legal training, free of charge. Clients are contacted and all the cases and matters relating to the subject under consideration and support are followed up. Throughout the past years the legal unit has worked on providing the service of judicial representation, which is considered one of its most important tasks, where the unit has been keen to provide this service before the Palestinian regular and sharia courts as follows:

  • The regular courts
  • (The civil side): cases relating to real estate, cases of financial liabilities, and cases of rights.
  • (The criminal side): criminal cases, bail applications, and cases of juveniles in conflict with the law.
  • (Execution): following up and executing the rulings issued by the regular courts.

 

  • The sharia courts
  • (Cases relating to personal status) such as cases of: custody transfer, maintenance, custody, hosting and visitation
  • (Execution): following up and executing the rulings issued by the sharia courts.

 

Membership in networks and national committees

  • A member of the Aoun network (the network of legal aid providers), which brings together all the organisations working in providing legal aid in the Gaza Strip, funded by the programme for strengthening the rule of law in the Palestinian territory, the United Nations Development Programme's legal aid work. It brings together the civil organisations working in providing legal services and holds a monthly meeting to discuss the latest developments in the work and to set plans and strategies for developing the legal service provided to the groups in need.
  • The chairmanship of the juvenile justice committee, whose membership includes Terre des Hommes Switzerland "TDH", the regular judiciary, the Public Prosecution, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the behaviour monitors at the Al-Rabie institution for social care.

 

The achievements of the legal unit

Across its various stages of work, the legal unit at the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution has recorded many achievements, among them:

  • Establishing a juvenile court based at the Al-Rabie institution for social care.
  • Following up the expedited trials held at the correction and rehabilitation centres in the Gaza Strip.
  • Training sharia lawyers in cooperation with the Supreme Sharia Judicial Council in the sharia laws, as a necessary step to complete the procedures for obtaining the right to practise before the sharia judiciary.
  • Success in obtaining a decision from the Supreme Sharia Judicial Council addressing the Bar Association not to carry out any disposition concerning minors except with the approval of the sharia judiciary.
  • Issuing many legal studies and reports that shed light on issues of concern to Palestinian society.
  • Forming a body to monitor violations of children's rights made up of the children themselves, and continuing to work with it for years up to the present, and linking it to the local government bodies and many of the responsible parties.

Joint cooperation with governmental and non-governmental bodies

The unit works and networks with all governmental and non-governmental institutions in order to make the effort made integrated and shared among all the relevant parties, where it has reached joint working agreements, among them:

  • A memorandum of understanding with the directorate of correction and rehabilitation centres in 2012.
  • A memorandum of understanding with the directorate of the Al-Rabie institution for social care in 2008.
  • Understandings with the Supreme Sharia Judicial Council on training and developing the capacities of those working at the sharia courts.
  • A memorandum of cooperation between the Palestinian Police directorate and the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution on cases of the sexual exploitation of children.