In Palestine like in the EU member states, harmonising laws with the highest international standards make a real difference in people’s daily lives, guaranteeing justice, equality, and dignity.

 To strengthen the alignment of Palestinian legislation with the highest international standards,  EUPOL COPPS has been supporting the Palestinian Harmonisation Committee.

As a result, a new Harmonisation Manual aiming to ensuring conduct of compatibility checks of draft laws to render the legislative process more coherent, efficient, and transparent, was launched on 15 December, in Ramallah.

Palestinian government officials, diplomats, and civil society representatives gathered on the occasion.

The Palestinian Minister of Justice, Sharhabeel Al-Za’eem the Palestinian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Omar Awadallah, and EUPOL COPPS Head of Mission (HoM), Karin Limdal, opened the event. The Palestinian Minister of Women Affairs, Mona Al-Khalili, also attended.

On the occasion, the Palestinian representatives emphasised the need to enhance legal coherence and reinforce Palestine’s adherence to international conventions.

Underlying how an important milestone in our collective efforts to strengthen the alignment of Palestinian legislation with international obligations, EUPOL COPPS HoM recalled that the Mission has been supporting the Harmonisation Committee since its establishment in 2017.

But she pointed out that harmonising legislation is not the sole responsibility of the Committee and that the Manual should be used actively by all legal officers across all ministries and legal departments, enabling them to undertake the essential legal and compatibility checks before draft laws reach the Committee.  In that regard, HoM outlined the importance of the document being endorsed by the Council of Ministers.