Aug 1, 20090
Fatah spites Hamas ban
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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Resources
The Basic Law
- 2003 Amended Basic Law (current)
- 2005 Amendment to the Basic Law (current)
- 2002 Basic Law (previous)
- 2005 Proposals to amend the Basic Law (not passed)
- 2003 Permanent Constitution draft (not passed)
- 1995 Basic Law draft by PLO (not passed)
- 1994 Basic Law draft by PLO (not passed)
Elections law
- 2007 Elections Law (Presidential decree) (current)
- 2005 Elections law (previous)
- 1995 Elections law (previous)
- 2005 Local elections law (current)
Expert opinions on Palestinian elections
- PCHR Position Paper: Elections constitutional, but inappropriate and impossble without reconciliation
- PCHR Position Paper: Controversy over End of Presidential Term in Office
- When is the next Presidential elections? Q&A by IFES
- Legal Opinion by Fatwa & Legislation Office regarding the presidential term of Mahmoud Abbas
- Factsheet on Palestinian presidential elections by Nathan J. Brown
- Palestinian local elections in 2009? Q&A by IFES
Presidential decrees
- Executive decrees and legislation June 2007-June 2008 (updated 28 August 2008)
- Presidential decrees Issued on June - July 2007
Other relevant documents
- 2007 Political Parties Law (not passed)
- 1997 Political Parties Law draft (not passed)
- PLC Standing Orders (2003)
Other resources
External resources
- News sources
- Organizations and institutions
- PA websites
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About
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.