Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces - December 31, 2008 - Back to Resources Page

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A sound legal framework is a key element of security sector reform (SSR) and
a precondition for effective, efficient, and democratically accountable security
sector governance. Over the past years, despite adverse conditions, Palestinian
politicians, researchers, and civil society activists have made many attempts to
reform their security sector and found themselves confronted with numerous
challenges, such as the absence of a state framework, Israeli occupation, and
the legacy of patrimonialism in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Just
as challenging proved to be the Palestinian legal system, a patchwork, in which
laws from the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian Liberation
Organization (PLO) coexist with Jordanian and Egyptian legislation, and even
with legislation from the British mandate. On the top of all this, one has to add
the military orders from Israel, which add to the legal complexity and make
reform even more daunting.

Palestinians deserve to be commended for the progress they have achieved in
establishing a legislative framework for their security sector. Nevertheless, the
legal system still contains many gaps and internal consistencies, which call for
harmonization and further codification. Besides, security sector reform anywhere,
not only in the Palestinian territories, is an ongoing enterprise, which makes legal
reform and adaptation a permanent task.

To download the full report please click below:

Attachment	Size
final_EN.pdf	3.07 MB

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Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces - December 31, 2008 - Back to Resources Page