Institute of Law at BZU concludes “Strengthening the Rule of Law” Project

In collaboration with the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces, the Institute of Law at BZU celebrated on 13 December 2010, the conclusion of the project "Strengthening the Rule of Law and Good Governance in the Security Sector," attended by the Governor of Ramallah and Al Bireh,Dr. Leila Ghannam, BZU Vice President for Community Affairs, Dr. Munir Qazzaz, and Director of the Institute of Law, Dr. Ghassan Faramand, Director of the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces, Mr. Roland Friedrich, along with the training staff, and the participants in the training courses are from various official institutions of the Palestinian Authority.

Dr. Ghannam emphasized the importance of such projects, noting that there are many difficulties and challenges facing the Palestinian society, which could be encountered by relentless hard work, explaining the importance and role of these training sessions in contributing to the process of institutional building ..

Dr. Qazzaz pointed to the role of these projects in setting up the principle of the rule of law and good governance in the security sector, referring to the importance of the legal tools in the reform process.

Frederich emphasized the importance and goals of this project, pointing to the significance of expanding the concept of the security sector, noting that these courses are the first of its kind, on the local and regional levels.

Dr. Faramand explained the value of these sessions, pointing to the significance of involving the civilians in the process of formulating security policies.

The project's duration was nine months, which included a number of specialized training courses for civilian experts working in the security sector, in collaboration between the Institute of Law and the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces. These courses targeted the concerned official institutions of Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and the output of this project is a training manual that covers all the  topics addressed in these courses.

In fact, these courses have covered specialized topics in good governance in the security sector, including the concept of the security sector, budgeting in the security sector, strategic planning and national security policy, in addition to the legal tools, including legislative drafting, mechanisms for reviewing legislation,  measuring the organizational impact of legislation and government intervention, legal information technology, public policy design and formulation mechanisms.

The number of participants in these courses has reached 40, representing various institutions of the Palestinian Authority, mainly civilian experts working in the security sector. During the ceremony, the participants were given certificates.