Facts about the Basic Law The Palestinian Basic Law is to
function as a temporary constitution for the Palestinian
Authority until the establishment of an independent state and a
permanent constitution for Palestine can be achieved. The Basic
Law was passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1997
and ratified by President Yasser Arafat in 2002. It has
subsequently been amended twice; in 2003 the political system
was changed to introduce a prime minister. In 2005 it was
amended to conform to the new Election Law. The 2003 reform was
comprehensive and affected the whole nature of the Palestinian
political system, whereas the 2005 amendment was only minor and
affected only a few paragraphs. A parallel effort has been made
to draft a permanent Palestinian constitution for an independent
state, but this was shelved in favor of amending the existing
Basic Law. About this site This website presents a collection of
various drafts and amendments related to the Basic Law and other
constitutional texts that have