[JURIST] Palestinian Chief Justice Zuhair al-Sourani resigned Thursday in protest of legislation that gives government ministers the power to appoint judges. In a letter to President Mahmoud Abbas [BBC profile], al-Sourani wrote that he could not continue in his post unless the law, which al-Sourani says "has torn the independence of the judicial system to pieces," is rescinded. The new law, ratified on Tuesday, modifies a system where judges were nominated by a panel of senior judges and appointed to the bench by the president. In August, al-Sourani resigned [JURIST report] in protest over "lawlessness in the courts" but later withdrew his resignation [JURIST report] after Abbas promised to increase protection of courts and judges. Reuters has more.