Procedures
A layered inheritance of Ottoman, Mandate, Jordanian and Egyptian procedure
Civil procedure follows Law No. 2 of 2001, which unified previously divergent West Bank (Jordanian) and Gaza (Egyptian and Mandate) rules. Enforcement across the territories and against parties in Israel is the central practical difficulty.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Palestinian Authority courts in the West Bank; a separate court system operates in Gaza.
- Deadline — Appeal: thirty days from notification of the first instance judgment
- Deadline — Cassation: forty days from notification of the appeal judgment
Governing law
- Civil and Commercial Procedure Law No. 2 of 2001
- Judicial Authority Law No. 1 of 2002
- Execution Law No. 23 of 2005
In practice
The 2001 law was a genuine unification achievement, replacing the Jordanian code applied in the West Bank and the Egyptian and Mandate rules applied in Gaza. Since 2007 that unification has partly unravelled in practice because the Gaza courts operate under separate administration and have issued their own procedural amendments. Enforcement is the harder problem: a West Bank judgment cannot readily be executed in Gaza, in Area C, or against a defendant in Israel, and the Oslo civil affairs mechanisms for cross-recognition function poorly. Commercial parties therefore rely heavily on security and guarantees rather than on litigation.