Project profile — Judicial Independence and Human Dignity

This project aims to promote judicial independence and human rights as key aspects of the justice sector in the West Bank and Gaza. CIDA’s contribution is helping to develop a model of judicial education adapted to the West Bank and Gaza, to deliver training to a core group of Palestinian judges and experienced judicial trainers, to disseminate information on judicial practice, and to develop a support network for judges.

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Results achieved as of March 2013 include: Over 35 workshops on judicial issues relating to human dignity were delivered to about 160 judges or nearly 100 percent of the judiciary, as well as to 94 lawyers, 170 law students and 35 journalists; an annual training of trainers course for judges called the Candidate Master Trainers program has been developed and piloted for two rounds with a total of 33 judges trained (26 male, 7 female); judges in the Candidate Master Trainer program have developed training materials and reference works in nine areas of law; the Palestinian Authority has officially accepted these Master Judicial Trainers and materials into its judicial education curriculum; 16 legal research studies and eight reference books on the Palestinian justice system have been published to further support judicial decision making; and a whitepaper was co-authored with key civil society organizations in the justice sector that helped shape the civil society section of the Palestinian Justice Sector National Plan. These have contributed to the promotion of judicial independence and human rights in West Bank and Gaza.