Formal and informal justice in Palestine : dealing with the legacy of tribal law

Abstract

Informal justice refers to the social phenomenon consisting of settling disputes between litigants outside state courts, the formal justice system. ‘Tribal judges’ are the main actors of tribal justice. In recent years, though, conciliation committees were established, [5] For more about the difference between tribal judges... [5] sometimes spontaneously, but most of the time, through the direct intervention of the PA, most specifically the executive authority, [6] For more about the role of PA executive authority and... [6] or even by political factions. [7] Institute of Law... 2006, pp. 123-126. [7] ‘Tribal conciliation’ is used to describe both the process and the outcome of the conflict resolution carried out by tribal judges or by conciliation committees. [8] In this paper, actors or representatives of informal... [8] 5 This paper considers legal pluralism in the WBGS as a way to understand legal phenomena, and the state’s [9] The ‘state’ here refers to the political organization... [9] attitude towards non-state normative orderings. It describes the advantages and inconveniences of the coexistence of formal and informal justice in the territories under the PA control, as well as the influence of each system on the other. The aim of this paper, nevertheless, is not to establish boundaries between state-law and customary law. Rather, it aims at showing that both categories of law are in evidence, and hence that a multitude of normative fields can coexist within a society. 6 It should be noted, though, that despite my use of data and cases collected during field research conducted by researchers with sociological and legal backgrounds, [10] The field research and interviews were conducted by... [10] my approach to the issues raised in this paper remains largely theoretical. It is not my objective to reproduce cases, arguments and conclusions considered in the field research; [11] One can see the report published by the Institute of... [11] rather, my objective is to continue the debate and reflect on the questions raised in the field research in my capacity as an outside observer and a jurist, not as a sociologist or anthropologist.