Palestinian Basic Law
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The Palestinian Basic Law

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

News & updates

– President has constitutional right to determine elections


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In a meeting with the Arab League in Cairo, Palestinian ambassador to Egypt, Nabeel Amer, argued that the president has the constitutional right to decide when to hold the legislative ...   More...

Abbas aims to stay in power until 2010


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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas intends to stay in office until 2010. Fatah says Palestinian parliamentary and presidential elections should be held together in 2010. Hamas says Abbas's term ends on ...   More...

New ICG report: Round two in Gaza


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A new report from the International Crisis Groups contains updated information of the activities of the PLC and status of recent regislation in relation to the Palestinian Basic Law. Download report ...   More...

Erekat denies Abbas’ plans to dissolve PLC


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Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) denies reports that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to disband the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Read: Maan News, "Erekat denies ...   More...

Hamas appoints new PLC members


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Hamas-affiliated members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) convened for the third time in 2008 this Monday. According to Maan News, twenty seven members of the council were in Gaza ...   More...

New court opened in Jericho


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Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister for the Palestinian caretaker cabinet in Ramallah, has opened the new building for the Jericho preliminary court. During the opening ceremony, Fayyad emphasized the importance of ...   More...

Al Haq warns against military courts


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The human rights organization Al Haq calls on the Palestinian Ministries of Justice and of the Interior, and the Attorney General to end the use of military courts in trials ...   More...

Majority believes presidental term expires in 2009


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A new poll from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) indicates that almost two-thirds of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza believe that Abbas’s term in ...   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.