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

Unity talks launched in Cairo


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A Hamas delegation has arrived in Egypt to participate in talks to restore Palestinian unity and resolve the dispute over the term of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. According to Palestinian ...   More...

What title for Mahmoud Abbas?


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According to Maan News, Hamas is “currently studying a number of descriptions” for the president should he not step down after 9 January 2009. De facto Interior Minister Sa’id Siyam ...   More...

Poll: Majority favors dissolving the PLC


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In a poll conducted by the An Najah National University Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies, 61,1 % of the respondents supported dissolving the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). 29,6 % ...   More...

Abbas: Law to determine elections


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In a respons to remarks by Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal that the movement will not recognize Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian president after 9 January, Abbas has stated that he will ...   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...

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...

«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...

HRW: Report highlights abuse on both sides


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A new report by the New York based human rights group Human Rights Watch points to abuse by both Fatah and Hamas. The report titled "Internal Fight: Palestinian Abuses in Gaza ...   More...

PCHR condemns detention of Mona Mansour


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The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Condemns the Detention of PLC Member Mona Mansour from the pro-hamas Change and Reform Party. The PCHR views the detention as "a continuation of ...   More...

Abbas refrained from meeting Hamas in Damascus


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Under a two-day visit to Damascus, President Mahmoud Abbas would not meet with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who lives in exile there. His discussions with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad focused on ...   More...

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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.

Information and contact details.