Rule of Law Section

EUPOL COPPS supports a comprehensive approach to creating security for the Palestinians. The Palestinian Criminal Justice System must be treated as a whole. For this reason, the Rule of Law Section has been expanded, and now comprises approximately twenty international and several local legal experts working closely with the various institutions of the Palestinian Justice Sector.

  

EUPOL COPPS is supporting the development of a comprehensive strategy for the Palestinian Justice Sector in close coordination with Palestinian partners and existing coordination mechanisms. EUPOL COPPS advises on and supports the functioning of the Palestinian Justice Sector through its work with the Palestinian Civilian Police (PCP), the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney General's Offices, the Courts, the High Judicial Council, the Bar Association, the Penitentiary System and Civil Society.

 

The Palestinian Justice System is currently undergoing restructuring, and faces challenges in reaching its goal to improve the quality of the justice service. Many steps still need to be taken; for example, some of the laws applicable stem from the 1960s and are in need of modernization.

The Rule of Law Section of EUPOL COPPS - with its full expansion into the Criminal Justice System in September 2008 - is an expression of the importance the EU attaches to the principle of the Rule of Law within Security Sector Reform in general and in the local context in particular.

Rule of Law focuses on advice, programme planning and project facilitation for the Palestinian Criminal Justice Sector. It strives for the closest possible cooperation with Palestinian stakeholders to ensure local ownership. 

EUPOL COPPS is providing strategic advice to prosecutors and the civilian police in order to improve their effectiveness, and to enhance investigation procedures to meet international standards regarding all sorts of crimes. The aim is to give selected police officials greater investigative expertise in different fields concerning both serious and organized crimes, as well as everyday offenses in the West Bank.

 

Development in crime scene investigation including forensic laboratory work is one of the prioritized areas where EUPOL COPPS experts are supporting the Palestinian Civilian Police.

 

The prosecutor is a key actor within the Criminal Justice System with exclusive rights to investigate and prosecute crimes. EUPOL COPPS is supporting prosecutors in fulfilling their duties by addressing their needs and sharing best practices to improve their skills. In particular, EUPOL COPPS is working on projects to improve investigation structures within the prosecution, to increase the delegation of investigative tasks to the police, and to generally improve cooperation between the police and the prosecution. Significant support is also given to the Attorney General's Office in the capacity-building of their planning unit and in assisting on donor coordination.

The Courts Team works closely with the Palestinian High Judicial Council and judges on various topics related to criminal justice ranging from scientific evidence to traffic violations. The team also discusses the impact of donor projects on the work of judges with the High Judicial Council.

Fostering the Right to Defence includes various activities to ensure the Criminal Justice System complies with international standards. These range from clarification of the related laws to the promotion of the right to defence at the relevant institution from the police to the prisons. EUPOL COPPS Defence Counsel also works on ensuring a functioning state-appointed defence system and on establishing a coordinated legal aid scheme.

The Palestinian Bar Association did not previously receive much attention in the strategic discourse on the Criminal Justice System. EUPOL COPPS initiated and is supporting several activities to render it a fully operational, independent bar association that is strongly supporting its members in their capacity as defence lawyers.

 

EUPOL COPPS underscores with its local partners the importance of international human rights standards as well as human rights provisions contained within national laws and legislation.

One of the focus areas of the EUPOL COPPS Human Rights Expert is to contribute to the development of the human rights package of the Palestinian Civilian Police (PCP) Basic Training Curriculum at the Jericho Police Training School. This task includes mainstreaming human rights throughout all the packages contained within this basic curriculum. Support is also given to the new PCP Bureau for Grievances and Human Rights, an internal oversight mechanism within the PCP. It is intended to facilitate training for the officers of this Bureau in the near future.

 

The EUPOL COPPS Penitentiary Team is assisting the central prison administration (the GARRC), prison unit personnel and other PA stakeholders in developing the penitentiary system as an integrated part of the entire Criminal Justice System. Activities range from developing and implementing strategic plans for institutional reform, training of staff, rehabilitation of inmates and improvement of infrastructure.

 

Special focus is put on conditions of detention in the Palestinian prison system regarding human rights with particular attention given to rehabilitation and to the more vulnerable categories of inmates.

 

EUPOL COPPS aims at assisting in the development of the construction of a solid self-sustaining Palestinian Correctional System, compliant with international standards for detention and able to meet social and security needs of the Palestinian people.

With respect to the Ministry of Justice, the Rule of Law Section provides expert advice on capacity-building at governmental level. A close look will be taken at the distribution of competencies between the Ministry of Justice and the High Judicial Council, the organizational structure of the ministry, training of personnel, working methods and infrastructure. It will also cover the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.