Overview

The book is easily accessible to those interested in Middle Eastern Studies, human rights in-conflict and post-conflict situations, legal pluralism, socio-legal studies, law and society, Shari'a Law and gender studies. Studies on women's access to justice in the Palestinian context have overwhelmingly focused on legal texts and the letter of the law. This study examines women's access to justice from the perspective of those women who have resorted to such courts for the purpose of achieving rights, resolving family-level conflict and/or seeking justice in regards to particular grievances. In particular this study reviews the responsiveness of the institutional structure of the sharia' courts in performing their justice function; over viewing domestic legal texts related to marriage, divorce, custody, alimony and other family law issues as well as inadequacies in the texts of addressing real problems; mapping women's encounter with the shari'a court and outlining the roles played by key actors in the sharia' court - judges, lawyers, litigants (men and women), and beyond the shari'a court including mediators or Muftis ; and finally, undertaking an analysis of women's different varying experiences in shari'a courts from the perspective of their social, political and economic context, and reviewing the impact of these factors on women's ability to access their rights. This study is based on identifying realization of access to justice as an outcome of an individual's ability to obtain legal remedy responding to the social, economic and political circumstances under which they live. This type of analysis of access to justice has as its main components (1) that it is premised on the law as an iterative process, rather than set of written provisions applied and interpreted in isolation of those who apply it, the historical parameters that produced it, or the economic, social and political circumstances impacting its application. (2) Treating law as an interactive process does not negate totally the impact of the ideology that constructs the legal system and mantles its provisions. (3) Focusing on social, economical and social condition besides the legal provisions of the law. (4) Assessing the role of the actors and reviewing the impact of their intervention and perspectives on women's access to justice in the shari'a courts. The research team observed cases in the shari'a courts of Bethlehem, Jericho, Nablus, Halhoul, Tulkarem, Jenin and Ramallah. During these observation sessions the research team attended family counseling sessions, spoke to litigants/clients of the court, consulted with judges, court administrative personnel and lawyers, and followed up on the progress of select cases. The study also complement its qualitative approach by looking at different written sources such as the personal status codes and afferent regulations, published collections of case law, published statistics about the court work, fatwas issued by West Bank muftis, NGO reports, media and policy reports about the law and its application. Together, these methods enabled us to arrive at a nuanced analysis of the law in action and women's access to justice.

Full Product Details

9781539845911

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available