This compilation is the first comprehensive collection of security sector legislation in the Arab region. It contains all relevant security sector legislation adopted by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) – laws, executive decisions, and bylaws of institutions relevant to the security sector.

The compilation has been prepared to serve a double purpose: First, as an inventory, it seeks to give Palestinian and international practitioners and experts an overview of the Palestinian security sector legislation already in place. The collected texts may thus be used as a quick reference manual. Second, it is also meant to be a tool for stimulating and facilitating Palestinian debate in workshops and seminars that deal with security sector legislation. Palestinian politicians, legal experts, students, civil society actors should be freed from the time-consuming burden of chasing documents. Instead, they should be allowed to concentrate on studying the texts, identifying the gaps and overlaps, discovering the inconsistencies, assessing the needs for improvement and developing new legislation that enables reform.

The present volume is divided into seven parts that correspond to the basic functions of civil-democratic security sector governance:

I. The Constitutional Framework for PNA Security Sector Legislation

II. The Legislative Framework for Executive Management and Legislative Oversight

III. The Legislative Framework of the PNA Security Forces

IV. The Legislative Framework for Law and Order

V. The Legislative Framework for the Judiciary

VI. The Legislative Framework for Criminal Proceedings

VII.The Legislative Framework for Civil Society