British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 135

CHAPTER V.

commodities. These tribunals, consisting of the mayor as president and two other persons, were established in thirteen of the municipalities during 1942 and, with varying degrees of competence and regularity of sittings, have played a part in the operation of the wartime system of controls.

The local councils do not exercise any judicial functions nor is there any provision therefor under existing legislation. But the Village Administration Ordinance, in Part III thereof, provides for the establishment of village courts in any village area in which a village council has been established. No such courts have as yet been established and it is not proposed to establish any until the village councils recently created have shown themselves fit to exercise these further powers.

12. There is no formal association of municipalities for the coordination of work and the exchange of views on common problems but there are occasional meetings of mayors for ad hoc discussions. The majority of the Jewish local councils are associated in a League of Local Councils which concerns itself with matters of common interest to them.

13. In recent years there has been criticism that the Municipal Corporations Ordinance, which has been amended many times but has not yet been reproduced in consolidated form, is too rigid an instrument for application both to large advanced communities such as Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem with populations exceeding 100,000 and small townships such as Jenin, Beisan and Beit Jala which "are little more than market centres in predominantly rural areas with populations of a few thousands only. There has also been considerable recent controversy in regard to the constitution and area of jurisdiction of local bodies for the administration of the local affairs of rural areas in the vicinity of townships. .

The need for a complete overhaul of the present systems of local government, including the financial aspects, is recognised by the Government of Palestine which, on 6th October, 1945, issued an official communiqué stating that it is the intention of the Government as soon as circumstances permit to adopt a recommendation made by the Royal Commission of 1936* that the services of an expert authority should be obtained to undertake a comprehensive examination of the structure of local government. It is not intended, however, that this enquiry should be initiated until the forthcoming municipal elections have been completed in most of the municipalities.
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* Chapter XVTI, paragraph 31, P. 355 of their report.

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