Constitution of Mandatory Palestine

Cover page of the Palestine Order-in-Council.[1]

The Constitution of Mandatory Palestine, formally known as the 10 August 1922 Palestine Order-in-Council, was the codified constitution of Mandatory Palestine. It was first published on 1 September 1922 in an Extraordinary Issue of the Palestine Gazette.[2]

The constitution, which was published approximately two weeks after the League of Nations approval of the Mandate for Palestine, officially replaced the British military occupation of Palestine, which had been in force since the end of World War I, with a civil administration.[3]

The constitution included the following terms:[3]

* Primary executive authority exercised by the British High Commissioner for Palestine
* The creation of an Executive Council
* The creation of an elected Legislative Council, operating at the discretion of the High Commissioner
* The creation of civil and religious court system
* Validation of existing British legislation

In the months before the British departure from Palestine, the 1922 Order in Council was supplemented by the Palestine Order in Council, 1948, which gave the High Commissioner power to "by Order make such provision as appears to him in his sole discretion to be expedient for the Government of Palestine until the withdrawal of His Majesty from the Government of Palestine, or in contemplation of or preparation for that withdrawal", subject only to the oversight of the British crown.[4] This Order in Council was laid before Parliament on January 27, 1948 and came into effect on March 1, 1948.[4] In Israel, most of its provisions were effectively replaced first by the Law and Administration Ordinance of 1948, then by the Transition Law of 1949, and eventually by the Basic Laws of Israel.

Today, part of the constitution remains in effect in Israel and the Palestinian territories.[3]

## See also

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* Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925
* Basic Laws of Israel
* Constitution of Palestine

## Bibliography

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* Kellermann, Alfred E.; Siehr, Kurt; Einhorn, Talia (16 December 1998). Israel Among the Nations: International and Comparative Law Perspectives on Israel's 50th Anniversary. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 978-90-411-1142-5.
* Mogannam, Mogannam E. (1932). "Palestine Legislation under the British". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 164: 47–54\. doi:10.1177/000271623216400108. JSTOR 1018957. S2CID 144218835.

## References

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1. ^ League of Nations. "The Palestine Order in Council". Retrieved 13 July 2019.
2. ^ Huneidi, Sahar; Huneidi, Sarah (7 April 2001). A Broken Trust: Sir Herbert Samuel, Zionism and the Palestinians. I.B.Tauris. pp. 282–. ISBN 978-1-86064-172-5.
3. ^ a b c Kellermann, Siehr & Einhorn 1998, p. 313-315.
4. ^ a b Palestine Gazette Extraordinary, No. 1650, February 27, 1948, p. 168 and Supplement No. 2, pp. 281–283.

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Key documents of Mandatory Palestine

1910s|

* Damascus Protocol
* The Future of Palestine
* McMahon–Hussein correspondence
* Sykes–Picot Agreement
* Balfour Declaration
* Hogarth Message
* Bassett letter
* Declaration to the Seven
* Anglo-French Modus Vivendi
* Anglo-French Declaration
* Faisal–Weizmann agreement
* King–Crane Commission report

1920s|

* San Remo Resolution
* Palin Commission report
* Paulet–Newcombe Agreement
* Haycraft Commission report
* Churchill White Paper
* League of Nations mandate
* Constitution
* Palestinian citizenship order

1930s|

* Shaw Commission report
* Western Wall Commission report
* Hope Simpson report
* Passfield White Paper
* MacDonald letter
* Peel Commission report
* Woodhead Commission report
* White Paper of 1939

1940s|

* Biltmore Programme
* Harrison Report
* Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry report (Survey of Palestine)
* Statement of Information Relating to Acts of Violence
* Morrison–Grady Plan
* Bevin Plan
* UNSCOP
* Ad Hoc Committee
* UN Partition Plan
* American trusteeship proposal for Palestine
* Israeli Declaration of Independence

* History
* Timeline
* Aftermath

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