Public Hearings Principle in The Palestinian Civil Procedure Law and Its Relationship to Public Order Concept in Light of The Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The importance of the public hearing’s principle or public of trial sessions clearly appears through the guarantee it provides to litigants during the hearing of the case before the court. This principle is affirmed in the Palestinian Civil and Commercial Procedures Law No. 2 of 2001 as well as in the Palestinian Basic Law of 2003.  Public hearings are one of the fundamental guarantees in the litigation process because they create a kind of popular monitoring of the work of the judiciary, and they also create a sense of reassurance between people and litigants about the fairness and impartiality of the judges. This is what is stipulated by the laws of most countries, but it should be noted in this regard that each rule has an exception, so the general principle is public of trial sessions, but the Palestinian legislator excluded some cases and gave the court freedom to make the session secret in certain cases. These cases relate to maintaining the confidentiality and sanctity of the family as well as preserving public order and morals in society. In addition, recently, hearings have become restricted to the parties to the case and their lawyers due to the (Covid-19) pandemic under the pretext of social distancing, prevention and public safety measures.