Dentists Syndicate and the Collective Solidarity Fund in Palestine

- The Collective Solidarity Fund / Dentists Syndicate was established in 1999 pursuant to an internal statute approved by the General Assembly of the Palestinian Dentists Syndicate, and the Fund has an independent Board of Directors and its own legal personality financially and administratively separate from the Syndicate... The Fund was audited with respect to the legal framework that regulates it and its relationship with the Syndicate, and the following observations were recorded (noting that the report was discussed with the Syndicate’s legal advisor, and it became clear that the Syndicate does not intend to implement the Audit Bureau’s recommendations contained in the report, which forced the Audit Bureau, in response to this refusal by the Syndicate to comply with its recommendations, to forward the final report to the Ministry of Health.... the Anti-Corruption Commission.... and the Council of Ministers, with the aim of taking the necessary measures to rectify the Syndicate’s legal and regulatory status).......!

· Observations and recommendations of the Audit Bureau:

- The legal framework regulating the work of the Dentists Syndicate is unclear (there is no Palestinian law regulating its work) and it relies in conducting its affairs on laws that are not in force (the draft law, the Jordanian law of 1972).

- The Syndicate relies in conducting its affairs on internal regulations not approved by the Ministry of Health 2008, contrary to Article 35 clause 5 of the Dentists Syndicate Law, No. 11 of 1956, and other regulations that base their authority on laws that are not in force 2017.

- The Collective Social Solidarity Fund system applied in the West Bank lacks the legal elements of its establishment (legal reference), due to the difference between the legal and organizational form of the solidarity fund actually established by the Palestinian Dentists Syndicate and the legal and organizational form of the pension fund stipulated in Article 5 clause 3 of the Dentists Syndicate Law No. 11 of 1956.... which is the reference law for conducting the Syndicate’s work.

- Because there is no clear, applicable legal text in the Palestinian territories that explicitly stipulates mandatory membership of the Collective Social Solidarity Fund, making membership in the Fund compulsory, and linking non-membership in the Fund and nonpayment of its dues to legal and procedural consequences against the dentist, is an improper measure from a legal and regulatory standpoint.!

- Linking the fulfillment of Syndicate membership, practicing the profession, voting in elections, and licensing dental clinics and centers to payment of dues to the Collective Social Solidarity Fund.

- Renewal of the physician’s membership was linked to payment of the dues owed to the Fund... which led to an annual proportional increase in the percentage of nonpracticing dentists, reaching by the end of 2017 a rate of 41%.... of registered dentists.!

- As a result of linking membership renewal to payment of dues owed to the Fund, a large number of dentists were deprived of obtaining their rights.... of participating in elections and voting on the administrative and financial decisions of the Syndicate..!

- The Fund’s internal regulations and their amendments were not approved by the Ministry of Health.... contrary to Article 35 of the Dentists Syndicate Law No. 11 of 1956..!

- Making membership in the Collective Social Solidarity Fund compulsory, contrary to the Jordanian Dentists Syndicate, which made it optional and not compulsory; moreover, the Syndicate did not obtain the approval of the Palestinian Council of Ministers, nor even the consent of the Ministry of Health in this regard.!

- There are many observations and reservations regarding the Fund’s system and the mechanism for disbursing entitlements from it, and the amounts disbursed per dentist vary as a result of the difference in the amounts collected for each case of death or disability.. there is no evidence confirming that the funds due and collected for each case are transferred to the ultimate beneficiary when a payment is later made (after months or years)!

- There is no clear explanation of Article 8 of Chapter Three on the Fund’s mechanism of work in the Fund’s amended internal regulations of 2018... with regard to a dentist regularizing his status (participating in the Fund), where he must pay a fine in addition to paying the full amount due on him so that his solidarity balance becomes (100 dinars), and how to handle amounts subsequently collected for previous death and disability cases.

- There is no proper organization of registrants’ records and the dues owed by them, nor is there proper documentation of how each case’s entitlements are calculated, especially (an inventory of the number of solidaristic members), and the variation in the deduction rate (the Fund’s administrative expenses, 5% according to the statute).. from one case to another.

- It appears that the statute was subject to continuous amendment over short periods, which indicates a lack of precision and objectivity in the provisions of this statute.!

· Financial and administrative management of the Collective Solidarity Fund:

- The Fund did not comply with Article 24 of the Dentists’ Collective Solidarity Fund Regulations and its amendments regarding the requirement to hold a regular meeting at least once every month, where the number of meetings was (6, 9, 8), respectively, during the years 2015, 2016, 2017.

- The Fund’s Board of Directors did not issue an executive regulation organizing the Fund’s financial and administrative affairs.

- Supporting documents for disbursements were not attached to the disbursement vouchers issued during the years 2015, 2016, 2017 for administrative and general expenses... as follows:

- No supporting documents were attached during 2015 for expenses amounting to 2,600 dinars and 10,470 shekels.!

- No supporting documents were attached during 2016 for expenses of 3,414 dinars, and supporting documents were attached covering only 4% of the total expenses (14,779 shekels).... for the same year....!

- Supporting documents were attached covering 20% of the expenses of 2017, totaling 15,135 shekels...!

- Sufficient documentary support was not attached to the disbursement vouchers related to solidarity entitlements for beneficiary dentists in cases of disability and death such as (heirship inventory deed, death certificate, decision of the Higher Medical Committee to determine the percentage of disability, an affidavit after practicing the dental profession), which does not provide assurance of the correctness and accuracy of the disbursement calculation.!

Date: 23-9-2021