Palestinian law is the law administered by thePalestinian National Authority within the territory pursuant to theOslo Accords. It has an unusually unsettled status, as of 2025, due to the complexlegal history of the area. Palestinian law includes many of the legal regimes and precepts used in Palestinian ruled territory and administered by the Palestinian Authority (West Bank areas A and B) andHamas (Gaza Strip), which is not an independent nation-state.
The scope of this article is to explain the legal history, context and development of law, the current fields of study of law in Palestinian ruled territory, as well as the state of lawlessness in those territories. It is also to discuss the domestic and international positions on which set of laws are controlling inPalestinian ruled territory today. The scope of this article doesnot include the legal status or framework of theGaza Strip,nor individual legal cases and crimes.
Due to the changing usages of the terms "Palestine" and "Palestinian" throughout history, the term may also be associated with regimes that are not associated with the Palestinian law of today. Examples include the discussion (in a reference work dating from 1906) of theTalmudic interpretation of laws from Palestine before 70 AD, also known asHalakha: "Those of the laws of Palestine that were extended afterthe Exile were originally enacted for the purpose of protecting the judicial administration and economic interests of Palestine, and with a view to encourage settlement there."[1] Such references to ancient Palestinian law do not apply to the Palestinian legal situation since at least 1948.
Essentially, says onelegal scholar, "the legal system in 'Palestine' consists of layer upon layer of law that almost all remain in effect."[2] The major issue is the:
question of whether the emerging state of Palestine will be capable of overseeing a system of rule of law. This debate is important not only in the political arena but in the legal arena as well, since a viable state must have a legal system that is functional and reliable. Despite the historically deteriorated condition of the Gazan and West Bank legal systems under occupation, the Palestinians recently have sought to seize the opportunity to determine the fate of their own legal heritage. To determine how this may be possible, we must look at what laws currently exist in the Palestinian territories.The law applied in different parts of the West Bank and Gaza strip is a combination of the various laws imposed on said areas throughout this century. Instead of each new law superseding the previous law, almost all of these laws remain in effect in the territories. Therefore, one would have to research multiple legal systems and codes to determine the law in one area. This is quite a confusing situation. The Palestinian legal system can be compared to a tossed salad, with layers of different laws and systems all mixed up into a confused mess. This situation in the Palestinian Territories is perhaps unprecedented in modern history.
— [2]
The laws that applied come from many jurisdictions through history: "Customary Law ... Ottoman Law ... British Law ... Jordanian Law ... Egyptian Law ... Israeli" law and even the informal strictures of theintifada, and finally, thePalestinian National Authority's Basic Law.[2]
The subject ofsovereignty is both controversial and unsettled; "neither the PLO nor the PA is recognized as a sovereign state by theUnited States.”[3]
TheBasic Law, established in 2002, is the proposedconstitution of a future Palestinian state.[4] According to one report, "Palestinians had been requesting that the law be signed into effect since 1997, in order to formally guarantee a modicum of basic rights."[4] It was enacted by thePLC (the Legislature of PNA) and signed byYasser Arafat.[4][5] It was amended on March 19, 2003 "to allow the creation of the Prime Minister Position in the Palestinian National Authority...."[6]
The Basic Law is based loosely onShari'a:
According to Article 4:
- Islam is the official religion in Palestine. Respect and sanctity of all other heavenly religions shall be maintained.
- The principles of Islamic Shari'a shall be the main source of legislation.
- Arabic shall be the official language.
— Mideastweb.org[4]
The Basic Law is introduced with "In The Name of God, The Merciful, The Compassionate",[6] as are most documents inIslamic countries.[citation needed]
The Basic Law has 121 articles.
The "bill of rights" Articles of the Basic Law, as amended March 19, 2003, cover the following topics:
There is some confusion amongstjurists, scholars and laymen about exactly what legal regime exists, and which laws apply, in Palestinian ruled territory.
Mahdi Abdul Hadi, a legal scholar, believes that all prior and current law continues to apply in the Palestinian territories, including "theBritish Mandate laws, theJordanian laws that used to govern theWest Bank before 1967 and theEgyptian law that governedGaza Strip before 1967, in addition to theIsraeli military orders."[2][7] According to Abdul Hadi, the first step was the organization of "Palestinian civil society", that is, atraditional law, "then came theMadrid Conference and theOslo Accords which drafted laws to govern the Palestinian political life for the interim period."[7] Following that, "the general elections in 1996 ... brought about thePalestinian Legislative Council as the legislative body of the Palestinian people in the Palestinian lands."[7]
Ottoman law has governed Palestine since 1517, and theOttoman Land Code of 1858 is still in force, one of the causes ofinternational controversy over land seizures.[2][8] The Ottoman statutory "codification mirrored Islamic law but also incorporated elements of European law, especially thelaw of France."[2]
Islamic customary law applies in Palestinian ruled territory:
Alongside every formal legal system in Palestinian history, there existed a system of customary law known as "Urf", which means “that which is known” in Arabic. This was a system of rules outside the court system, which handles disputes based on traditional oral customs.
— [2]
The term urf, meaning "to know", refers to the customs and practices of a given society. Although this was not formally included in Islamic law,[9] theSharia recognizes customs that prevailed at the time ofMuhammad but were not abrogated by theQur'an or the tradition (this is called "Divine silence"). Practices later innovated are also justified, since Islamic tradition says what the people, in general, consider good is also considered as such byGod. Urf is the Islamic equivalent of "common law".[10]
In the application of urf, custom that is accepted into law should be commonly prevalent in the region, not merely in an isolated locality;jurists also tend, with caution, to give precedence to custom over doctoral opinions of highly esteemed scholars.[10]
For the most part, crimes and violent acts are consideredcrimes of violence and fall under the purview of thecriminal justice system. The Palestinian Authority operates under its own criminal law, such as its Penal Code. In addition, "the Palestinian Authority also imposes the death penalty pursuant to the PLO Revolutionary Penal Code, of 1979." The PNA utilizes both military and special, state security courts for most death penalty cases.[11]
TheAge of criminal responsibility in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank is unclear. In Jordan, it was the age of 7 until 2014, when it was raised to 12.[12]
Civil law used the customary law in Palestine: "Urf covered disputes such as contracts, family disputes, personal injury, and land matters."[2]
Through the use ofurf, Palestinians usealternative dispute resolution, specifically forms of participatory justice: "This system stressed conciliation, mediation, and family honour."[2]
The Palestinian Land Law is a law that prohibits Palestinians from selling land to Jewish citizens of Israel. The punishment for violators is the death penalty.[13]
