Legal professors, experts revise training manual on fair trial guarantees, integration into judicial system

Representatives from the Palestinian justice system, the Palestinian High Judicial Council, the Palestinian Public Prosecution, and the Palestinian Bar Association, discussed a training manual draft for applying international fair trial guarantees in Palestinian courts in a workshop organized by the Faculty of Law and Public Administration at Birzeit University together with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights.

The workshop, held on May 27, 2018, also included officials and administrators from the Palestinian Civil Police Force, the Independent Commission for Human Rights, law faculties from various Palestinian universities, the EU Co-ordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support, and the United Nations Development Programme.

Dr. Yasser Amouri, dean of the Faculty of Law and Public Administration at Birzeit University, highlighted the importance of the training guide and how it can advance the justice system in Palestine, and emphasized the effect of the concerted efforts of partner organizations and institutions in keeping the Palestinian judiciary and judicial systems abreast of all developments. 

Asad Shinnar, the assistant secretary general at the High Judicial Council, reviewed the difficulties and challenges that beset the Palestinian judicial system, and underscored the significance of establishing a training guide for applying international standards with regard to the right to a fair trial, especially, he noted, for judges. 

“The High Judicial Council is ready to provide all the assistance it can to promote fair-trial guarantees, regulations, and guidelines,” commented Shinnar, adding that the council will cooperate with the relevant parties to produce and revise the training manual. 

Eman Siam, director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute’s Middle East and North Africa programs, applauded the level of cooperation and coordination with which the partner organizations are developing and advancing the Palestinian court system. Siam also introduced attendees to training manuals that the Raoul Wallenberg Institute has recently published in Palestine. 

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ashqar, a judge in Ramallah’s magistrate court, presented the training manual over the course of two sessions. The first focused on the theoretical framework of international instruments pertinent to fair trial guarantees and the nature of the relationship between international human rights agreements and the instruments’ by-laws. 

The second session familiarized participants with the manual’s accompanying training program by presenting them with a number of principles and codes relevant to fair trial guarantees.