Ref: 16/2018 

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) conclude the second training course for this year in the field of Personal Status for young lawyers to help them obtaining the license to practice law before sharia courts.  The 3-hour training course was attended by 46 lawyers, including 20 female lawyers, from Rafah and Khan-younis cities and held between 25 and 29 March 2018 in Al- Saa’da land resort, on the road to the western Rafah city.

The program of the course included a number of items : inheritance and mandated will; Sharia Procedure Law; the Personal Status Law; family law; Palestinian Execution Act; Lawyers’ Code of Conduct; Cases and Rulings; and Journal of Justice,

A team of specialized trainers supervised the training sessions represented by Hanan Matar, Lawyer at PCHR’s Woman’s Unit in addition to a group of legal judges, Sheikh Saa’ed Abu Al Juben , Sheikh Ahmed Al Buhaisi, Sheikh Ibrahem Al Najjar, Sheikh Omar Nofal.

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. 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.

At the beginning of his speech, Abdel Halim Abu Samra, Director of the Training Unit at PCHR, emphasized the importance of this course.  He added that the course aims at deepening lawyer’s knowledge of the Personal Status Law and developing the justice system in the Palestinian society, especially that lawyers are integral part of the justice system.

The participants appreciated the distinctive role of PCHR in increasing the participants’ efficiency in pleading before sharia courts among young lawyers.  They also emphasized that the course is distinguished with its rich topics that would positively affect their professional level and make it easier for them to understand the Personal Status Law and so positively affecting women’s conditions.  They also praised the trainers’ efficiency and various and interactive training methods used in the course.

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.