The Legal Framework of Palestinian Economic (Under) Development

Abstract:     
This chapter is about the relationship between law and development. More specifically, it is about statutory laws and economic development. The case study will be Palestine after Oslo. Statutory laws are used, in contemporary states or proto-state, as it is the case with the Palestinian Authority, to effectuate change; but change is the natural destiny of all institutions and legal systems; why then change through statutory laws? This paper shows that statutory laws intend to accelerate the process of socio-economic change, through planned process of legal reform and often in response to a crisis. This objective does not necessarily realize. On the contrary, as shall be proven by the Palestinian experience since the establishment of the PA, and despite the economic developmental goals present in Oslo strategies and discourses, legal reform in the economic sector was paralleled by continuous deterioration and dependency of the Palestinian economy.

Paper presented in the International Conference on Law and Economic Development: Towards Constructive Engagement in the Middle East (22-23 February 2007).

Number of Pages in PDF File: 30

Keywords: Economic Development, International Aid, Legal Reform, Neopatrimonial State, Palestine

JEL Classification: K3, K30, K33, K39, K42, K00, O10, O17, O20, O53

Accepted Paper Series