Palestinian Basic Law
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The Palestinian Basic Law

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

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Fayyad repeats call for transitional government


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Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad calls for a "transitional coalition government made up of independent and qualified figures" in order to restore national unity. The transitional government would be charged ...   More...

Legal overhaul lacking transparency


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President Mahmoud Abbas and his government are pursuing a five-year legislative plan that could transform the Palestinian political and economic systems from top to bottom. Some constitutional experts and legislators ...   More...

Decree to form national committee on prisoners


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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has issued a decree to form a national committee tasked with resolving the issue of political prisoners held by the de facto cabinet in Gaza and ...   More...

PLC opens in Ramallah


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As the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) opened in Ramallah, Palestinian prisoners and popular resistance campaignes topped the agenda. Other topics were Prisoners' cantine bills, family allowances, and education. Read: Maan News, ...   More...

Factions seek revival of the PLC


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In Gaza, representatives of five Palestinian factions has agreed that a "comprehensive national dialogue," should be begun in order to end the Palestinian internal political split. The parties agree in ...   More...

Frees 199 prisoners


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On 25 August Israeli authorities will free 199 detained Palestinians. According to Reuters, their release will coincide with a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. A list of ...   More...

«Honour charter» seeks revival of PLC


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A committee consisting of members from Palestinian leftist parties along with Islamic Jihad and Hamas have met in Gaza to doscuss the issue of national dialogue. The five party group has ...   More...

Haniyeh to publish book on de facto cabinet’s record


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Palestinian de facto prime minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza plans to publish a book on the experience of his cabinet. The book is being published by the de facto cabinet's ...   More...

PCHR condemns continued attacks on organizations in West Bank


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The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza (PCHR) condemns the continued attacks on private and civil society organizations and arrests by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank. The policy ...   More...

Fayyad calls for transitional government


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In a meeting with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Palestinian caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stated that he attempts to speed the formation of a transitional government. Such a government is ...   More...

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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.

Information and contact details.