Dean of Hebron Law School Publishes a Peer-Reviewed Article on the Palestinian Legal Profession Reform

Dr. Mutaz Qafisheh, Dean of the Hebron University College of Law and Political Science and Associate Professor of International Law, published a new peer-reviewed article entitled “A century of the law profession in Palestine: quo vadis?” in the International Journal of the Legal Profession, Taylor & Francis (Rutledge), Oxford, 2018 (38 pages). After surveying the modern history of the legal profession in Palestine since its separation from the Ottoman Empire, the paper, by using empirical/field research approach, dealt with the prospect of reforming the profession in Palestine, starting from legal education in law schools, the apprenticeship system, legal ethics, bar associations and the influence of politics on the profession.

In this research, Dr. Qafisheh found out that the main challenge that is encountered by the law profession in Palestine throughout its 100-year history is the division over political lines. The split started with the establishment of the Palestinian Jewish and Arab Bar Associations under British rule before 1948. The division took another form of separation between Palestinian lawyers in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel between 1948 and 1967. Under Israeli occupation (1967–1994), lawyers were partitioned into three factions: striking lawyers who affiliated with the Jordanian Bar Association, practicing lawyers who formed the Arab Lawyers Union, and the Gaza lawyers who founded the Lawyers Society. Together these three bodies formed the transitional council of a Palestinian Bar in 1997. Since the 2003 Bar election, lawyers have been unified under the Palestinian Bar Association, which has become a well-established body, notwithstanding all the challenges facing not only the law profession but also the country as a whole.

The abstract of the article is available on this link:  https://goo.gl/RL5mxt