Anna Lindh Forum 2010Barcelona, Spain

4-7 March 2010

Jamil Salem

Institute of Law, BirzeitUniversity

Outline

I. Overview

II. Establishment of the IoL

III. IoL Structure (2005-2010)

IV. Resources

V. Functions of the IoL

VI. Methodology

VII.Activities

VIII.Future Plans

I. Overview

• 1993 Law Centre established.

• 1996 MA Programme.

• 2000 Al-Muqtafi online available.

• 2003 Faculty of Law & Public Administration established.

• 2005 Socio-Legal Research

• 2010- ? (Preparation of a new strategic & conceptual approach!)

II. Establishment of the IoL

Birzeit University established the IoL in 1993/1994 in order to

Promote the rule of law in Palestine by

• Developing the necessary legal infrastructures,

• Building human and institutional capacities on the academic and professional levels.

III. IoL Structure (2005 – 2010)

IV. ResourcesFinancial Resources:• Donors: (Belgium, CIDA-Canada, France,

Denmark, FFF, KAS, IDRC, UNDP, ...) • 2 Endowments.Human Resources:• 53 employees (24 Core employees, 29

short term contracts)• 5 PhD Students (Austria, Belgium,

Switzerland and Tunisia)• 4 MA StudentsIoL Montesquieu Library• The only specialized Law Library in

Palestine

V. Functions of the IoL

• Constitutes a centre for legal research, continuing legal education, and legal information.

• The IoL serves as a focal centre for information, scholarly and applied research on rule of law related issues in Palestine.

• Challenges jurists, political scientists and educators to think systematically and creatively about the problems of the legal system in Palestine.

• Has extensive international connections.

VI. Methodology (a)

• Team Work (Multidisciplinary Research Team)

• Field Research (Interviews, Surveys, etc.)

• Workshops

• Training

• Evaluation

Methodology & Gender (b)

• A Cross-Cutting Theme in all IoL’sActivities

• “Women's Rights Charter” in cooperation with the Ministry of Women's Affairs.

• Preparing training materials for Palestinian policewomen.

• Contributing to efforts of the Ministry of Justice in establishing a "Gender Department“.

VII. Activities of the IoL

1. Research & Publication

2. Legislative Assistance and Legislative Drafting

3. Establishing comprehensive and modern legal information and documentation resources (Al-Muqtafi & Montesquieu Library)

4. Offering Continuing Legal Education

5. Outreach

1. Research & Publication

The IoL is focusing on comparative and interdisciplinaryresearch in the following areas:

• Legislative Support (First Legislative Drafting Manual in the region, various studies on the Palestinian Legislative Process, Initiation of a DIPLOMA in Legislative Drafting)

• Law and Society Department (Socio Legal research)

• Constitutional Law (Security Sector Reform and Human Rights)

• Law and Economy (Guide on How to do Business in Palestine & a Study on SMEs)

• International Law (Palestine Yearbook of International Law)

2. Legislative Support & Legislative Drafting (a)

Theoretical and Applied Research

First Legislative Drafting Manual in the Region (1999),

Legislative Harmony in Palestine: A Preliminary Survey (2004),

The Legislative Process between Theory and Application (2005),

Legal and Regulatory Framework of the Government’s Administration of the Legislative Process: The Palestinian Context (2007).

Legislative Support & Legislative Drafting (b)

IoL’s experience in drafting laws: The Palestinian Basic LawLabour LawChild LawDraft Law on the Cultural HeritageDraft Land Law Draft Audio-Visual Law Draft Company Law Reviews of various draft laws

Legislative Support & Legislative Drafting (c)

IoL’s experience in drafting secondary legislation:

Regulations and bylaws of the Labour Law,

Regulations and bylaws of the Law on Social Insurances,

Regulations Concerning Licences of Medical Professions and Health Facilities,

Regulations concerning Public Purchases.

Legislative Support & Legislative Drafting (cd

DIPLOMA in LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING

1. Primary Courses

Policy-Making General Legislative Theory in Palestine Legislative Harmony and Associated Problems Applications of Good Legislative Drafting Mechanism of developing a Research Report as a

tool to examine problems addressed by draft laws Regulatory Impact Assessment

2. Supplementary Courses

Legal Research Methodology Legal Terminology in English Arabic Language – Linguistic Rules in Legislative

Drafting Information Technology in Legislative Drafting

2. The Palestinian Legislation & Court Judgments Database

(Al-Muqtafi)

Al-Muqtafi

Consolidated Legislation

Court Judgments

2. The Palestinian Legislation & Court Judgments Database

(Al-Muqtafi)

Content:

– Consolidated legislation since the Ottoman period available in XML

– Court Judgments (23,000 judgments)

– Legal Dictionary (A/E)

– Court Judgments Classification Scheme (KASHAF)

– Legal Thesaurus (A/E)

– Ontology (available for Labour Law)

3. Continuing Legal Education

• KARAMAH Initiative for Judicial Independence and Human Dignity

• Professional Diploma in Legal Practice for Young Lawyers

• Legislative Drafting Diploma

• Training Palestinian Civil Police

• Legal Encounters & Conferences

4. Outreach

• Outreach: targeting key stakeholder groups, Media and civil society organizations through KARAMAH and SSR.

• MoUs with the Council of Ministers, MoJ, MoI, HJC, and the PBA.

• Conferences and Encounters.

• Offering a neutral forum for debate.

VIII. Future Plans

• Launching the Diploma Programme in Legislative Drafting (Jan 2011)

• Developing a Family Court Judgments Database (2011-2012)

• Review Labour Law related Legislation in cooperation with the MoL (2011)

• Developing Curricula for training Judges, Public Prosecutors and Local Government Staff (2011-2012)

• Cooperation with the HJC (Al-Mizan & Judicial Education) and the MoJ (Official Gazette) (2011-2012)

• Feasibility Study – MA Programme in Law, Society and Gender in cooperation with the Institute of Women Studies.

• Preparation of a new Strategic Plan.

Thank You

Jamil Salem

Institute of Law, Birzeit University,

P.O. Box 14, Birzeit, West Bank, Palestine

Tel:++ (2) 298 2009

Fax:++ (2) 298 2137

http://lawcenter.birzeit.edu