Palestine president establishes controversial constitutional court News
Palestine president establishes controversial constitutional court

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has established a new constitutional court that will be inaugurated Monday with the swearing in of the last justice. The court, which will hold supremacy over all others, was quietly created by presidential decree, but those that oppose the creation point out that Abbas stacked the court in his favor by appointing justices [Reuters report] from his own political party. The Fatah Party [Britannica backgrounder] supported the president’s power to establish this court and stated that none of the party’s officials possesses a hidden agenda. However, with the court being perceived as one-sided, as all members are either Fatah members or affiliated with Fata, it will inevitably contribute to the widening split between the Fatah and Hamas [Britannica backgrounder], the opposing political party.

The Palestinian government has been criticized in the last year for the misuse of public funds after documents were leaked, as well as for detaining West Bank students seemingly in an effort to silence political dissent [JURIST reports]. However, internal controversy is not the only issue at hand for Palestine. Many issues are spurred by the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine [HRW backgrounder]. At the end of March the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website], Rupert Colville, said [statement] that his office was concerned about the apparent extra-judicial execution [JURIST report] of a Palestinian man in the West Bank. In January Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged [JURIST report] businesses to cease operations in Israel settlements. In August UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile] urged both sides of the conflict to reconcile and move towards peace [JURIST report] after an attack occurred in the West Bank village of Duma, where Jewish extremists allegedly set fire to a Palestinian home while the family slept. In April 2015 HRW alleged [HRW report] that Israeli settlement farmers in the occupied West Bank are using Palestinian child laborers in dangerous conditions in violation of international laws. Last January Germany’s top human rights official urged Israel to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] probe into possible war crimes in Palestinian territories. After a prosecutor for the ICC announced the investigation [JURIST report], Israel’s government said that it would not work with the ICC and called for its funding to be cut.

THIS DAY @ LAW

First impeachment trial began in US Senate

On December 17, 1798, the US Senate began its first impeachment trial. Senator William Blount of Tennessee, a land speculator, was accused of plotting with England to wrest control of Florida from Spain. The Senate ultimately dismissed the charges for lack of jurisdiction—and, perhaps incidentally, lack of Blount, who had gone to Tennessee and had refused to return to the Senate for trial. Read more on the trial of William Blount.

Simon Bolivar dies

On December 17, 1830, South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar died in Colombia. During his lifetime, Bolivar led successful revolutions against Spanish colonial rule throughout South America. His efforts led to the independence of the modern-day nations of Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador and Bolivia, a nation named in his honor.