Ref: 33/2018

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) concludes the sixth training course for this year for young lawyers in Family Law to help them obtaining the license to practice law before Sharia courts. The 30-hour training course was attended by 31 lawyers, from the central Gaza Strip, Khan Younis and Rafah.

The program of the course included a number of international human rights instruments: including the International Bill of Human Rights, Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, provisions of inheritance and mandated will Family Law and its compatibility with the Convention on the Rights of Women, Sharia Procedural Law, the Personal Status Law; family law, Cases and Rulings; and Journal of Justice, Palestinian Execution Act and Sharia jurisdiction.

A team of specialized trainers supervised the training sessions represented by Hanan Matar, Lawyer at PCHR’s Woman’s Unit Sameer Hasaniyia, a lawyer at PCHR’s Women’s Unit, Mohammed ‘Atallah, a trainer at PCHR, Majedah Shehadah, a researcher at PCHR’s Women’s Rights Unit, in addition to sharia judges namely Sa’id Abu al-Jubein, Ibrahim al-Najjar, ‘Omer Nofal; and Ahmed al-Buhaisi.

At the end of the course, PCHR held a closing ceremony where Mukhaimar Abu Si’da, Member of PCHR’s Board of Directors, pointed out, “these efforts implemented by PCHR’s courses aim at disseminating the human rights culture, especially women’s rights, among the various segments of Palestinian society. He added that the course aimed at enhancing the abilities and skills of lawyers to create a generation that advocates for human rights and women, particularly that women are subjected to a dual violence by the Israeli forces in addition to the community’s violence. He stressed that the relationship between PCHR and participants in the training should not end at the end of the course as PCHR’s doors will remain open to benefit from its experience relevant to human rights, especially in the field of defending the rights of women.

Mona al-Shawa, Head of Woman Unit, stressed that the courses came in light of PCHR’s human and legal work in protecting and disseminating the human rights culture, monitor it in addition to providing legal aid for those who need it. He also invited all participants to head to PCHR to benefit from its experience in all the course’s topics relevant to human rights, especially in the field of defending the rights of women emphasizing their role in promoting justice and their contribution to the development of the judicial and legal system, especially that lawyers are an integral part of the justice system.

Ayman Abu ‘Eishah, President of the Sharia Bar Association in Gaza, stressed PCHR’s distinctive role in disseminating the culture of human rights and rule of law among young lawyers, pointing out to the great relationship between PCHR and the Bar.  He added that he course was characterized with its rich topics that will have a positive impact on lawyers’ professional level in a way that would help them to pass their practice law license exam to plead before the sharia courts in the Gaza Strip and help them to easily understand the Family Law and so positively reflect on women’s conditions.

It should be mentioned that PCHR is the first human rights organization in Palestine that hold such kind of courses as PCHR has accumulated great experience of long years in the field of Personal Status Law and pleading before Sharia Courts to defend women who are victims of violence.

At the end of the ceremony, all participants received certificates.