On Tuesday last week, the Knesset approved in first reading the "Basic Bill: Rights in Investigation and Criminal Justice."
The initiative for the law is that of Justice Minister Gideon Saar, and the proposal was formulated in the Ministry of Justice, but after the approval in the first reading there is room to ask: Is this good news or disappointment?
The purpose of the law set forth in the proposal is to protect a person's fundamental rights in investigation and criminal law.
This is a very worthy goal, so the legislative initiative is excellent.
However, the wording of the proposal is very disappointing: the proposal is very "thin" in terms of the rights it specifies, and in fact does not add any right and does not even expand or strengthen any existing right of the suspects, defendants, and in fact of all citizens - anyone can find themselves Or his relative is suspected of a criminal offense.
First, the proposal states that "a person is entitled to have a criminal proceeding to which he is a party fair, including that it be conducted without bias."
Sounds good, but this wording ignores the fact that the vast majority, between 80 and 90 percent of Israel's criminal proceedings, end in the plea bargaining industry.
In most of them, the offense and the guilt are not investigated at all, but the defendant admits and eliminates, the main thing is that the case is closed.
In my opinion, one should get rid of the method of plea bargains and return to the attempt to do justice that existed until the 1970s.
But as long as the plea bargaining system exists, such a law must be addressed, otherwise it will not protect most of the defendants.
The defendants need protection, in light of the studies that show that there is a significant phenomenon of false confessions of innocents in the plea bargains.
Therefore, the law must provide the defendant's right to receive a fair offer from the prosecution, so that he will not be discriminated against in comparison with other defendants in the same offense.
Second, the proposal is satisfied with the stipulation that "a person is entitled to consult a lawyer regarding a criminal investigation in which he is questioned as a suspect without delay."
In a reality where it is known that police investigators succeed in interrogating suspects before the consultation, it must be determined that the consultation will take place before the investigation, as well as establishing a right to the presence of a defense attorney as an observer in the investigation.
Third, the law must establish the principles that criminal law is the last resort and imprisonment is the last punishment.
In addition, in order to give meaningful content to the trivial statement regarding the presumption of innocence, the purpose of which is known to be to reduce the phenomenon of conviction of innocents, it must be determined that the guilt must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore single evidence is not sufficient.
So when it comes to, for example, a confession or eyewitness testimony, and so it is when it comes to scientific evidence - all the evidence is flawed.
The proposed law also stipulates that due weight should be given to the "totality of the purposes of the criminal procedure", but only mentions the "preservation of public peace and personal security" and completely ignores the principle of protecting innocent people.
In addition to the missing statement on this important principle, content should be molded into it and it should be stipulated that the authorities will take safety measures against convicting innocents in all areas of procedure and evidence.
Finally, the bill ends with a statement that empties it of most software: "This Basic Law does not prejudice the validity of a law that existed on the eve of the commencement of the Basic Law."
This gives immunity from the Basic Law to all existing legislation, and the law will only apply to new legislation.
Since the legislation is slowly creeping up - the Penal Code is still a Hebrew translation of the Mandatory Criminal Law Ordinance of 1936. The practical implication is that it will take many decades for the Basic Law to have a real impact.
The first reading in the Knesset is not the end of the verse.
The bill is submitted for discussion to the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
Committee members and Knesset members will have to consider carefully whether they are content with the statements and slogans in the bill, or whether they want to refine it so that it gives the citizen real protection from the immense power of law enforcement.
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