Palestinian Basic Law
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The Palestinian Basic Law

A collection of various propsals and amendments to the Basic Law of Palestine.

2005 Amendment to the Basic Law

2005 Amendment to the Basic Law
The Basic Law of 2005 A.D. Concerning the Amendment some of the Provisions of the Amended Basic Law of 2003. Gaza: 2005. Bir Zeit Institute of Law: The Palestinian Legal and Judicial System ”al-Muqtafi”. http://web.archive.org/web/20070608180556/http://muqtafi.birzeit.edu/data/txt/2005/14860.htm, access via The Wayback Machine 13 December 2007

Concerning the Amendment some of the Provisions of the Amended Basic Law of 2003.

The Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization;
The President of the Palestinian National Authority.

Having reviewed the Amended Basic Law of 2003 A.D., particularly Article (120) thereof;
Based upon what the Legislative Council approved during its session, which convened on July 27th, 2005, A.D.;
Based upon what the public interest necessitates; and
In the name of the Palestinian People, I hereby promulgate the following Law:

Article 1

Articles 36, 47/Clause 3 thereunder, 48, and 55 of the Amended Basic Law of 2003 A.D. shall be amended so as to become as follows:

Article 36

The term of the presidency of the National Authority shall be four years. The President shall have the right to nominate himself for a second term of presidency, provided that he shall not occupy the position of the presidency more than two consecutive terms.

Article 47 – Clause 3

The term of the Legislative Council shall be four years from the date of its being elected and the elections shall be conducted once each four years in a regular manner.

Article 48

The members of the Legislative Council shall be elected in general, free and direct elections in accordance with the provisions of the Elections Law, which shall determine the number of members, electoral constituencies and electoral system.

In the event the position of a member of more than a member of the Legislative Council becomes vacant, the vacancy shall be occupied in accordance with the provisions of the Elections Law.

Article 55

Allocations, rights and obligations of the members of the Legislative Council and Ministers shall be determined by law.

Article 2

A new article under number (47 bis) shall be added to the Amended Basic Law of 2003 A.D., the provision of which shall be as follows:

Article 47 bis

The term of the current Legislative Council shall terminate when the members of the new elected Council take the constitutional oath.

Article 3

This Law shall be effective as of its publication in the Official Gazette.

Promulgated in the City of Gaza on August 13, 2005 A.D.
Corresponding to Rajab 8, 1426 A.H.

Mahmoud Abbas
Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization
President of the Palestinian National Authority

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Facts about the Basic Law

The Palestinian Basic Law is to function as a temporary constitution for the Palestinian Authority until the establishment of an independent state and a permanent constitution for Palestine can be achieved.

The Basic Law was passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1997 and ratified by President Yasser Arafat in 2002. It has subsequently been amended twice; in 2003 the political system was changed to introduce a prime minister. In 2005 it was amended to conform to the new Election Law. The 2003 reform was comprehensive and affected the whole nature of the Palestinian political system, whereas the 2005 amendment was only minor and affected only a few paragraphs.

A parallel effort has been made to draft a permanent Palestinian constitution for an independent state, but this was shelved in favor of amending the existing Basic Law.


About this site

This website presents a collection of various drafts and amendments related to the Basic Law and other constitutional texts that have been compiled from various other sources.

You can also expect to find links to news items and reports that are of relevance to Palestinian constitutional law, the electoral framework, political reform and the PA branches of government.

The website was created by the Norwegian journalists Erik Bolstad and Tonje M. Viken in February 2008. The site is a private initiative and has no affiliation to any organizations or authorities.

All external links are purely for information purposes and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors of this site.

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