By an 8-1 vote this past Monday, with many members not taking part, the Knesset Law Committee approved the Public Security Ministry's proposal to do away with much of the traffic between jail houses and courthouses.
Possibly in the wake of last months' much-publicized escape of rapist Benny Sela, the legislators are looking for ways to avoid the tremendous costs and risks of transporting suspects back and forth between jails and courts merely for the purpose of having their remand extended or ended.
The proposed bill is to be brought to the Knesset for a final vote in the near future. It stipulates that a special video room will be designated in the jail, which will be legally deemed a courtroom. A parallel video system will be installed in a court, and the judge and the suspect will thus see and communicate with each other. The suspect's lawyer will be in the courtroom.
In addition, a special protected phone line will be installed between the two locations, such that the lawyer and his client will be able to communicate discreetly.
The law is to take effect in six months, on a one-year experimental basis. During this period, only those suspects who agree to take part will do so, Committee Chairman MK Menachem Ben-Sasson (Kadima) told Arutz-7.
Yitzchak Levy (National Union) was the lone MK to vote against the bill. "For one thing," he told Arutz-7 today, "Jewish Law requires the suspect to stand before the judge, and I am not sure if video-conferencing fulfills this requirement. In addition, I believe that the judge must be able to be have personal contact with the suspect."
In addition, Both the Bar Association and the Israel Civil Rights Association object to the new arrangement. They say that the suspect's civil rights will be impaired, in that he will not be able to whisper to his lawyer, nor will there be direct contact between the judge and suspect. "The video conference system harms the entire criminal proceeding," one Bar Association leader told Haaretz, explaining that the judge will be deprived of personal contact with the suspect that might help him determine his innocence. He said that the individual case of Benny Sela should not be allowed to influence the entire system of arrests in Israel.
In response, Chairman Ben-Sasson told Arutz-7, "If anything, contact between the judge and the suspect will be even greater than before. In many cases now, the judge barely looks at the suspect - while now, his entire video screen will be filled with [the suspect's] image."
In addition, Ben-Sasson explained, "The suspects will be spared the humiliation of having to be handcuffed and shackled to appear in court, as well as the hours of waiting there - not to mention the tremendous expenses saved by not having to transport them back and forth, with police protection and the like."
"Of course, if the court system would agree to build court rooms for this purpose alongside the jails, this would solve the entire problem," Ben-Sasson said, "but as of now, this agreement has not been forthcoming."
Possibly in the wake of last months' much-publicized escape of rapist Benny Sela, the legislators are looking for ways to avoid the tremendous costs and risks of transporting suspects back and forth between jails and courts merely for the purpose of having their remand extended or ended.
The proposed bill is to be brought to the Knesset for a final vote in the near future. It stipulates that a special video room will be designated in the jail, which will be legally deemed a courtroom. A parallel video system will be installed in a court, and the judge and the suspect will thus see and communicate with each other. The suspect's lawyer will be in the courtroom.
In addition, a special protected phone line will be installed between the two locations, such that the lawyer and his client will be able to communicate discreetly.
The law is to take effect in six months, on a one-year experimental basis. During this period, only those suspects who agree to take part will do so, Committee Chairman MK Menachem Ben-Sasson (Kadima) told Arutz-7.
Yitzchak Levy (National Union) was the lone MK to vote against the bill. "For one thing," he told Arutz-7 today, "Jewish Law requires the suspect to stand before the judge, and I am not sure if video-conferencing fulfills this requirement. In addition, I believe that the judge must be able to be have personal contact with the suspect."
In addition, Both the Bar Association and the Israel Civil Rights Association object to the new arrangement. They say that the suspect's civil rights will be impaired, in that he will not be able to whisper to his lawyer, nor will there be direct contact between the judge and suspect. "The video conference system harms the entire criminal proceeding," one Bar Association leader told Haaretz, explaining that the judge will be deprived of personal contact with the suspect that might help him determine his innocence. He said that the individual case of Benny Sela should not be allowed to influence the entire system of arrests in Israel.
In response, Chairman Ben-Sasson told Arutz-7, "If anything, contact between the judge and the suspect will be even greater than before. In many cases now, the judge barely looks at the suspect - while now, his entire video screen will be filled with [the suspect's] image."
In addition, Ben-Sasson explained, "The suspects will be spared the humiliation of having to be handcuffed and shackled to appear in court, as well as the hours of waiting there - not to mention the tremendous expenses saved by not having to transport them back and forth, with police protection and the like."
"Of course, if the court system would agree to build court rooms for this purpose alongside the jails, this would solve the entire problem," Ben-Sasson said, "but as of now, this agreement has not been forthcoming."