Palestinian council only body to lift immunity

The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the only body able to lift the immunity of its members, according to the Council Regulation, PLC’s Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Bahar said in a press release Wednesday, adding that parliamentary immunity is designed for the PLC. Bahar’s statement came after reports were published that President Abbas was looking to lift the immunity of Mohammed Dahlan. The parliamentary immunity is a constitutional right for PLC members, Bahar explained. “Article 96 of the Council Regulation organizes the procedures to lift the immunity of any member, and determines the body that has the right to do that is only the PLC or the Attorney General by submitting a request to the council speaker, with the required documents,” he added. He continued “then the speaker refers this request to the Legal Committee of the council, which submits its report to the council to take the decision either to lift the immunity or not.”