The rule of Hamas in Gaza : reconstruction of judicial sector

Abstract EN

The broad objective of this research is to investigate the impact of the current constitutional crisis in the Palestinian Authority (PA) on the services offered to the public in the Gaza Strip in the judiciary and analyse the policy responses and strategies adopted by the Hamas government to tackle the prevailing state of emergency.

This research reviews the empirical experience of the Gaza Government (GG) during the last two years of crisis-management, and deducts some assumptions of Hamas’s political and domestic priorities.

This research investigates the progress of the judicial sector in the Gaza Strip, particularly since June 2007.

The chapter will, first, give a brief background to the judiciary in Gaza.

Second, it addresses the question of to what extent the judiciary has been subject to institutional discontinuity and disruption following the Hamas takeover or to what extent previous practice and norms have been upheld in spite of the crisis.

The third part is dealing with how the economic isolation of Gaza has affected the court system, while the fourth part explores how Hamas has coped with the various challenges to its rule in Gaza.

Finally, the chapter offers some views on what sort of long-term vision for the judiciary that can be read out of Hamas’s performance in power.