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

Nathan J. Brown: Widening gap may vitiate diplomatic breakthrough


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«When Hamas and Fatah fought their brief but bitter civil war in June 2007, the outcome was short of Solomonic: the object of contention, the Palestinian Authority, was actually split ...   More...

Abbas to call elections if negotiations fail


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In a speech at the first meetiing of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) in 13 years, President Mahmoud Abbas said that he would press ahead with parliamentary and presidential elections ...   More...

Results of Fatah Central Committee elections


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Fatah has elected a new Central Committee. Here are the names. Read: Reuters Alertnet, "FACTBOX-Final results of Fatah Central Committee vote", 12 August 2009, http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LC73906.htm Read: Reuters Alertnet, "PENPIX-Influential figures in new leading ...   More...

Phone voting from Gaza delays voting process


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About 300 delegates to the Fatah convention has been refused to leave Gaza by Hamas rulers. Instead, the delegates are voting by phone for 18 seats on the executive body, ...   More...

Abbas endorsed as Fatah leader


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Mahmoud Abbas is endorsed as Fatah's continued party leader. Abbas received the approval in a show of hands from the vast majority of 2 300 delegates participating in Fatah's first congress ...   More...

Q&A: Fatah’s party congress


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President Mahmoud Abbas will chair the Fatah Congress beginning on Tuesday in Bethlehem. Reuters Alertnet have compiled some questions and answers about Fatah. Read: Reuters Alertnet, "Q&A: Abbas's Fatah holds long-awaited congress", 3 ...   More...

Fatah spites Hamas ban


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On 4 August the Fatah party congress is set to begin in Bethlehem in the West Bank.  Hamas has conditioned the departure of some 400 Fatah members from Gaza on Abbas's ...   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.