Reviewing and Drafting and Integrated Legal and Regulatory Frame Work for Forensic Science and Forensic Medicine
Introduction:
Since the PNA was established, the Palestinian justice sector has seen a paradigmatic shift. On the ground, the justice sector has marked key developments, including in relation to institution building and human resources. Although the Palestinian legislative context has demonstrated tangible improvements in the law-making process, several deficiencies and challenges are still in place. Integrated legal frameworks have not been devised with a view to establish forensic medicine centers and forensic laboratories. To materialize the purpose of these facilities, legal frameworks are needed to ensure an informed regulation of the forensic medicine activity. Accordingly, better pieces of legislation can be enacted in line with relevant international standards, ensuring an enabling legal environment that maintains criminal justice. Clearly defined approaches should guide the institutional capacity building process, contributing to criminal justice improvements.
In light of these developments, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is required to set forth a legislative foundation and manage this vital sector. This task has not yet been accomplished, however. Regulations that govern forensic medicine and forensic laboratories are multiple and contradictory. All that is available is short, inadequate secondary legislation, which cannot provide a leverage for legal reform across the justice sector.
Overall objective:
This project is essentially designed to review the Draft Laws on Forensic Medicine and Forensic Laboratories with a view to assess how consistent they are with the Palestinian legal framework and relevant international standards. To ensure sound enforcement, a new draft law will be developed and presented. Needed bylaws of the draft law will be also developed. Once approved, the draft law will be enforced immediately
Specific objectives:
In particular, the project will achieve the following goals:
- Review the Draft Laws on Forensic Medicine and Forensic Laboratories to examine how consistent they are with the Palestinian legal framework and applicable international standards.
- Following final drafting, identify pieces of secondary legislation needed to enforce the new draft law.
- Reproduce the Draft Laws on Forensic Medicine and Forensic Laboratories in the form of a consolidate draft law.
- Develop items of secondary legislation needed for implementation of the new draft law using good legislative drafting techniques and in line with the Palestinian legal system.
Duration:
1/3/2015- 31/8/2015
Status of the project:
Ongoing
Donor:
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Team:
- Mahmoud Alawneh – Director
- Razan Barghouti- Researcher
- Ala Hamad- Researcher
- A comprehensive legal review of the Draft Law on Forensic Medicine and Draft Law on Forensic Laboratories
- Develop legislative policy papers and redraft regulations