The Bedouin Judge, the Mufti, and the Chief Islamic Justice: Competing Legal Regimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Welchman, Lynn

Abstract

This article examines competing legal frameworks in dispute resolutionin the occupied territories, against the background of weakening central authority, bitter political rivalries, and increasing insecurity on the ground. Two case studies from 2005 are presented — a killing in Gaza and an attempted sexual assault in the West Bank — where the involved parties had recourse to three distinct but overlapping bodies of law, not all of which were part of the formal Palestinian legal system: statutory law, Islamic law, and customary (or tribal) law. The resolution of these cases, while shedding light on the intersection of local politics and alternative legal systems, underscores the challenges of forging a united legal system in a situation of occupation, weak government, and heterogeneous legal heritage.

Citation

Welchman, L. (2009). The Bedouin Judge, the Mufti, and the Chief Islamic Justice: Competing Legal Regimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Journal of Palestine Studies, 38(2), 6-23. https://doi.org/10.1525/jps.2009.38.2.6

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2009
• Deposit Date: Aug 17, 2009
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 17, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Palestine Studies
• Print ISSN: 0377-919X
• Electronic ISSN: 1533-8614
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 6-23
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/jps.2009.38.2.6