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	Palestinian Authority		Info-Prod Country Guide
BACKGROUND   JUDICIARY   BUSINESS FORMS & STRUCTURES   CURRENCY & BANKING   INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY   TAXATION INVESTMENT & TRADE   ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Judiciary General Currently, there are still two court systems in the Palestinian Authority. One system is in effect in Gaza and the other in the West Bank. Gaza In Gaza, the judiciary is divided into three levels, in accordance with the system installed during the British Mandatory period: the Magistrates Courts, the Central Courts and the High Court. The Magistrates Courts are authorized to decide civil suits where the amount of the dispute is valued at less than US$ 8,300. Civil suits where the amount in controversy exceeds that amount are heard by the Central Court. Matters relating to the enforcement of Magistrates Court judgments are submitted to the jurisdiction of the Central Courts. The High Court sits in two capacities, either as the High Court of Appeals or the High Court of Justice. In its capacity as the High Court of Appeals, the High Court hears appeals from decisions issued by the Magistrates and Central Courts. In its capacity as the High Court of Justice, the High Court hears cases which challenge laws or regulations as being contrary to public policy. It also hears administrative law matters in disputes involving administrative agency decisions, orders or regulations. Judgments obtained in Gaza are valid for a period of fifteen years. Enforcement of judgments which are not voluntarily paid is carried out by the Department of Execution which issues an order to the judgment debtor to pay and is enforced by the police. The West Bank The judiciary in autonomous areas of the West Bank is in the process of becoming fully functional. In other areas of the West Bank, the judiciary is less than fully functional. The judicial system for the West Bank is modeled after the Jordanian system and is composed of Magistrates Courts, Courts of First Instance, Appeals Courts and a Court of Cassation. The Magistrates Courts have jurisdiction to hear cases involving claimed disputes not exceeding 250 Jordanian Dinars. Cases involving claims exceeding that amount are submitted to the jurisdiction of the Courts of First Instance. The Courts of First Instance have some limited appellate review functions over decisions of the Magistrates Courts. Appeals from judgments of the Courts of First Instance and the Magistrates Courts are heard by the Court of Appeals. While the judicial system ostensibly calls for a Court of Cassation, a supreme court, none has operated in the West Bank since 1967. Therefore, decisions of the Appeals Courts are final and not subject to appeal. The lack of a court of last resort, the long delays involved in scheduling court hearings as well as the lack of a police force capable of executing judgments (except in the autonomy areas), are the primary reasons stated for the reportedly high out of court settlement rate of cases filed in the trial courts in the West Bank. Enforcement of court decisions in the West Bank is regulated by the Jordanian Enforcement Law of 1952 and the Jordanian Enforcement of Foreign Decisions Law of 1952. Before the establishment of a Palestinian police force in the West Bank, court decisions of civil courts were practically unenforceable. The introduction of Palestinian police following the re-deployment of Israeli Military forces is believed to gradually increase the likelihood that decisions will be enforced. The enforcement of foreign judgments in the West Bank under the Jordanian Law of 1952 remains generally problematic as the law gives the local courts the discretion to refuse to enforce the foreign decision if the foreign country's laws do not reciprocate. Also, foreign decisions relating to land disputes are generally not enforceable. Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms Both in Gaza and in the West Bank, alternative dispute resolution is widely used for resolving commercial and business disputes. During a period of political and legal instability, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms were thought to provide greater convenience and predictability than the court system. Mechanisms presently used are arbitration, mediation and other less common forms of dispute resolution. Arbitration laws exist both in Gaza (Palestine Arbitration Ordinance of 1929) and in the West Bank (Jordanian Law of Arbitration of 1953) providing for enforcement of arbitration agreements and awards. In Gaza, institutionalized arbitration is available through the Palestinian Chamber of Commerce. Previous Chapter Contents Menu Next Chapter

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