Confession, evidence, and the juridical construction of male drug use in Palestinian appellate and cassation judgments.

Abstract

This study examines how 19 Palestinian appellate and cassation judgments issued from 2016 to 2021 construct male drug use through confession, documentary evidence, statutory classification, and evidentiary linkage. Combining qualitative socio-legal analysis with reflexive thematic analysis, it identifies six patterns: temporal biographies of use; denials separating social familiarity from criminal attribution; bureaucratic stabilization of evidence; male mediation and mobility; first-time-use classification; and failed linkage in shared or ambiguous spaces. Juridical construction denotes the process through which courts convert statements, objects, places, and social relations into legally consequential categories. In this corpus, confession links use, purchase, duration, and purpose; corroboration requirements and proof of knowledge or control can restrict attribution. The judgments reveal tension between punishment and treatment-oriented diversion. Outcomes vary with offense classification, corroboration, procedural documentation, and the demonstrated relation between the accused and the substance.