Press Release

PCHR Publishing A new Report on the PLC

 

Date: 9^th December, 1999

Ref: 124/99

 

PCHR has recently published its second annual review of the Palestinian Legislative Council, entitled “The Palestinian Legislation Council: An Evaluation of its Activities During its Third Session.” The report, which is the second one, follows a report published by the Centre in 1998 about the activities of the PLC during its first and second sessions, between March 1996-March 1998. The overall goal of this report, and others, is to measure the process of democratic transformation in the Palestine, and the obstacles that negatively affect it.

 

The study is divided into three parts: the first part introduces the PLC activities concerning the election of its Speaker, the Council’s committees for the third session, in addition to other issues. The second part focuses on analyzing and evaluating the legislative activities of the PLC during the third session. It introduces the most important laws and decisions issued by the PLC during the session in order to find out to what extent an improvement took place on the PLC activities in this regard. Then it moves to analysis five laws, as five case studies, to investigate the nature of the relation between the PLC and the executive authority and the extent to which an improvement can be seen in this relation since the first two sessions. The five laws studied are, the Basic Law, the Judicial Authority Law, NGOs Law, the Public Budget Law for 1998, and the Civil Servants Law.

 

The third part of the study focuses on analyzing the accountability and monitoring activities of the Council during the session. It analyses the extent to which the Council was make progress in its use of the available accountability and monitoring instruments; such as members questions, investigations, special commissions of inquiry, and no-confidence votes.

 

Through its analysis of the legislative activities of the PLC in its third session the study concludes that the PLC showed quantitative developments in this regard. The PLC drafted a number of important laws towards achieving the goal of establishing a unified legal system with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, however, the study did not find qualitative developments in the PLC’s legislative activities. Through its analysis of the five cases (listed above) the study notes that the achievement of the PLC fell below expectations. The council failed to use these laws as a means to create an essential change in the nature of the relation between it and the executive authority, a relation which is based on a lack of respect by the executive authority for the role of the PLC and the legislative process.

 

Concerning the monitoring and accountability activities of the PLC, the study concludes that the PLC’s effective usage of the accountability instruments had also declined. The number of questions posed by PLC members to executive officials decreased compared to the first and second sessions. Also, there was no development in the Council’s usage of investigative instruments. Nor was there any qualitative improvements in the area of special commissions of inquiry. The Council was not able to oblige the executive authority to implement the recommendations and suggestions of the commissions of inquiry. Moreover it was unable to force the Executive to draft a law through which commissions would have the power to require people to testify before them. Only quantitative developments were seen, an increase in the number of special commissions of inquiry formed during this session. Regarding no-confidence vote usage, it is noted that this instrument was not used at all by the PLC during this session, and was not included in the agenda of any meeting of the session. The possibility of its usage was mentioned only as means of a threat.

 

Based on the above, the report conclud that the PLC, at the end of its third session, (which should be its final according to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreements), had become weaker and more isolated than at the end of the first two sessions. Once again the PLC showed weakness and inability to confront the executive authority. It also failed to build a solid basis of transparency and accountability in its relation with the executive.

 

NB: The study is available in Arabic from PCHR, anyone interested may obtain a copy.