International Human Rights Law within the Palestinian Legal System

Elias Al Hihi and Asem Khalil December 2020

The hierarchical status of international treaties within the domestic system of states varies from one to the other depending on each state’s approach and understanding of international law. While most states do not differentiate between the constitutional hierarchical status of international human rights treaties and other types of international law treaties, some states accord human rights treaties a special constitutional status. In Palestine, the legal system does not establish the constitutional hierarchy of international treaties within Palestine. The Palestinian Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) dueled upon the issue recently. This article provides a critical review of the SCC’s decisions on the constitutional hierarchy of international law in Palestine, while advancing the argument that international human rights treaties should be accorded a special constitutional status.