JENIN: LOCAL JUDGES, PROSECUTORS DESCRIBE

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 002189

SIPDIS

NEA FOR IPA AND FRONT OFFICE; INL/CIV FOR YOUNG/PETERSON;
NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/PASCUAL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI KJUS KWBG KPAL IS
SUBJECT: JENIN: LOCAL JUDGES, PROSECUTORS DESCRIBE
CHALLENGES FACING JUSTICE SECTOR

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. Judges and prosecutors in Jenin told Poloff
and SEMERS staff that inadequate resources and interagency
cooperation are the major obstacles to improving local
administration of justice. They said the security campaign
in Jenin has significantly improved public perception of the
justice sector, but obstacles to access and movement and
prohibitions on PASF operations impede progress. End summary.

Judges: Big Backlog; Big Needs
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2. (C) Poloff and SEMERS staff met with Jenin's head judge,
Mahmoud Jamous, and two criminal court judges at the Jenin
courthouse December 1 to discuss administration of justice.
Jamous praised the Jenin initiative and said area residents
have begun using the courts to settle issues and resolve
long-stalled cases. Jamous complained that none of the
court's judges live in Jenin and face extensive delays at IDF
checkpoints when coming to work. He suggested a VIP travel
system for the West Bank's 140 judges. Asked about local
prosecutors, he said they are very young, lack training, and
often fail to present sufficiently robust cases to secure
conviction.


3. (C) According to data that Jamous provided, 521 serious
criminal cases, 334 civil cases, and approximately 100
appeals are pending before the first instance
(district-level) court. Four judges are handling
district-level cases, and four judges are handling
lower-level magistrate cases. Three of the four district
court judges hear criminal cases with possible sentences in
excess of three years, and one magistrate hears lesser
criminal cases. The magistrate-level case backlog is
significant: an estimated 6,500 pending criminal cases and
1,260 civil cases. (Note: According to Jamous, civil cases
in excess of 100,000 Jordanian dinar (JD) are heard by
three-judge panels at the district level. A single
district-level judge hears civil cases between 10,000 and
100,000 JD, and the magistrate court handles cases below
10,000 JD as well as certain classes of disputes including
landlord/tenant. End note.)


4. (C) There are significant problems with post-trial
handling of civil and criminal decisions, and 4,968 civil and
criminal cases from both the district and magistrate courts
are awaiting enforcement of judgments. Jamous said efforts
to reduce this backlog are severely hampered by inadequate
staff and vehicles. He emphasized that obstacles to access
and movement and prohibitions on PASF movement have also
stalled many cases where witnesses are unable to travel or
suspects are beyond the reach of the law.

Prosecutors: Increased Investigation Assistance Needed
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5. (C) Abdelnasser Daragmeh, chief prosecutor in Jenin, told
Poloff December 1 that his office's pending caseload has
dropped from 600 to 400 cases in the pre-trial investigation
phase since he assumed his position three months ago. He
said there is only one civil police officer assigned to his
office which has hampered the office's ability to conduct
investigations. "It has been four years since the judicial
police was announced, and we're still hearing about it,"
Daragmeh said. He added that the prosecutor's office most
urgently needs advanced training in forensics, money
laundering, and computer crime. (Comment: A more basic
review of investigatory techniques may actually be more
useful. End comment.)
WALLES