The latest report by the State Comptroller reveals gross tremors of civil liberties and detainees' rights. First, in light of (to the dark) the multiplicity of arrests and overcrowding in detention facilities, and after a petition was filed with the High Court of Human Rights, and the right to a minimum living space has been recognized. , The police released that reduced the number of arrests. But the auditor's report reveals that in the official reports of the police for 2018-2016, 123,000 arrests (!) Have disappeared. Imagine one detainee and then try to imagine 123,000 anonymous arrests ... Second, the report points to the phenomenon of police using unnecessary civilian arrests to release them under conditions under a judge's order, despite the fact that they can be released at the police station under an officer's order: The same conditions set by the judge after unnecessary detention night Third, police hold suspects of unnecessary night detention because she is consulting with the prosecution for the continued detention only the next day. 

Fourth, there are still police districts that have set output targets, including arrests. Such output targets should not only be condemned, but strictly prohibited. Civil liberties should not be used as raw material by the police. Fifth, the police have systematically violated the detainee's right to consult a defense attorney: In about a quarter of the arrests examined, the application for a defense lawyer's appointment was sent by the police only after the detainee had already been investigated without a defense attorney. Sixth, the court system accumulated NIS 148 million (!) Of deposit money deposited as a guarantee of release from detention and that for some reason were not repaid to the eligible, the outrageous claim not located. Police who knew how to locate suspects to arrest them and took deposit money from them or their acquaintances must locate them and return their money to them. In light of the low socio-economic cut of most detainees, this is a grave plunder. Seventh, the courts restrict the filing of arrests for morning hours, thus making the police hold the detainees unnecessary overnight in custody.

Eighth, the detainees are transported to the courts to participate in hearings in their detention extensions are ineffective and often the detainee stays in more ways than a day, under difficult transport conditions borne by abuse: often not even a visit to the services and the summer days in the shuttle truck. Instead of demanding efficiency while upholding detainees' rights, the auditor recommends promoting a bad initiative to replace the detainee's presence with a hearing on his arrest in the media and video with him - "Visual Conferences": The detainee will be photographed in a video at the detention center and the judge will meet him digitally. 

Because the first seven deficiencies are clear, I will focus on the eighth: The Treasury has prepared a financial cost calculation that will save if the shuttles are replaced with photographs, a spokesman for a singer's competition rather than the choices and dignity of citizens. The detainee's presence in the hearing in his case is necessary to treat him with respect and fairness. The judge must hear and see him immediately and stand on his physical and mental state before making such a fateful decision when denying his freedom. The visual conferences uproot the emotion and make the arrest a worthwhile decision. The detainee's presence at the hearing is also important for exercising his right to consult with the defense attorney and to clarify the factual details required during the hearing. The meeting with his relatives who come to the hearing is also important for maintaining the mental stability of the detainee in the face of the trauma of the detention. 

The King's way of saving is dramatically reducing the number of arrests. It is possible and necessary to investigate without stopping. Past experience shows that even savings are not necessarily achieved through visual conferences. In the past, legal proofs existed in Israel before the defendants' fate was decided. A few decades ago, the plea bargain industry took its place in the name of efficiency and savings. However, the unbearable ease of wholesale instant convictions led to a state of overcrowding: all over the country a criminal trial, until prisons were cramped and overcrowding severely damaged prisoners. Similarly, one can expect that, if they do not go to a visual conference, the detention will become even easier and the detention inflation will intensify. Given the high cost of detention (more than NIS 10,000 a month in current costs), the treasury will lose rather than save. But even if you can save, it is immoral: a company that does not want the costs associated with arrests must exclude them and not reduce them while violating detainees' rights.

Prof. Boaz Sanjero teaches at the Law and Business Academic Center and at Sapir Academic College and the founder of the site "Review of the Criminal Justice System"