The Invalid Judicial Ruling in Palestinian Legislation, A Critical Analytical Study

Abstract

An invalid judicial ruling is a ruling that does not comply with the conditions of a valid judicial ruling and is marred by a flaw, which might be fundamental, unamendable, and nullifies all the effects of the ruling as if it did not exist, or a non-fundamental flaw that can be corrected and amended. The invalid judicial ruling is distinguished from other judicial rulings such as the valid judicial ruling, since the valid ruling has fulfilled all the elements and conditions of the ruling. If this ruling is challenged, it becomes authoritative and must be enforced by the competent authorities. Regarding the non-existent ruling, there is no legislative backing or legal text concerning it. As soon as the judicial ruling is issued in any kind of lawsuits, the court that issued the invalid ruling withdraws its involvement from the case upon issuing the ruling, and it has no jurisdiction over the case file from that moment. However, the Court of Appeal does not end its jurisdiction but rather begins to be the court of jurisdiction responsible for confirming whether the judicial ruling is invalid or not. Also, when the ruling issued by it is overturned by the Court of Cassation and the case is returned to it anew, it becomes the entity with the authority to review the case.

An invalid ruling has general effects, represented in the validity of rulings when not challenged, and this validity is limited to its parties only, and others may not adhere to it. However, if the invalidity is from public order and is directly stipulated by the law, the court is obliged to address the invalidity on its own accord.

The Palestinian legislator embraced the theory of invalidity, as it was stated in many provisions of articles in the Law of Civil and Commercial Procedures No. 2 of the year 2001, where the researcher addressed it analytically. However, the legislator did not define the invalid judicial ruling, leaving the matter to the interpreters of the law.

This study addressed the definition of the invalid judicial ruling, distinguishing it from other rulings, the causes leading to its invalidity, the consequences ensuing from that, and challenging these rulings according to the procedures and the law. The study exclusively focused on the Law of Civil and Commercial Procedures No. 2 of 2001, referencing decisions from the Palestinian Court of Cassation.