The ombudsman for the state's representatives in the courts, retired judge Prof. Menachem Finkelstein, published his annual report today. According to the report's findings, about 30 percent of complaints about state prosecutors were found to be justified.
The Ombudsman examines the complaints he receives against anyone authorized to represent the state in the courts: the State Prosecutor's Office, the police, and those authorized by the Attorney General.
According to the report, in 2022, 754 complaints were submitted to the Ombudsman, of which 402 were defined as complaints (an average of about 34 complaints per month). They were joined by 35 complaints filed in 2021 and resolved in 2022. In total, the Ombudsman handled 2022 complaints in 437. Of all the complaints, 87 were found to be justified, and 44 of them were accompanied by an operative recommendation, when a systemic flaw or work pattern requiring correction and regulation was discovered during their investigation. Operative recommendations were also given in complaints that were rejected on the merits. 90 of the complaints were resolved in less than three months, while in 93% of the complaints the investigation was completed during the past year and a decision was made on the merits. The average investigation time for a complaint was only 34 days, and in about 90% of the complaints, a decision was made in less than three months.
Most of the complaints - about the State Prosecutor's Office
According to the report, the State Prosecutor's Office has the highest number of complaints with 42% of all complaints filed in relation to it. 9% of the complaints were filed in relation to the police prosecution and police investigators, while 6% related to the attorney general. 8% of the claims were filed in relation to attorneys or those with a letter of certification from the Attorney General, and 2% of the complaints regarding prosecutors from the Disciplinary Division of the Civil Service Commission, state representatives on behalf of the Tax Authority and others.
Of all the complaints found to be justified: 55% related to the State Prosecutor's Office, 20% related to the police, 6% related to the Attorney General, 17% related to prosecutors holding certification or power of attorney from the Attorney General, and 2% of the complaints related to prosecutors from the Disciplinary Division of the Civil Service Commission.
Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office, Central District Attorney's Office, Ministry of Justice, October 26, 2020/Reuven Castro
One of the complaints against the State Prosecutor's Office that was found to be justified concerned the violation of the rights of crime victims in closing a sexual offenses file. After it became clear that an investigation file regarding suspected sexual offenses had been shelved against four complainants, without the handling attorney having held a preliminary conversation with them as required, the Acting Ombudsman recommended instructing the parties handling the case to hold a conversation with the complainants and reexamine the evidence in the case in light of her findings.
Following the above, the Deputy State Prosecutor (Criminal Matters) announced that the prosecutor handling the case had held meetings with the four complainants, in the presence of their counsel, and that after the meetings were held, the State Prosecutor would reexamine the investigation material and make a new decision on the case.
One of the complaints that was found to be justified in relation to the Attorney General concerned the delay in handling suspicions of violence against minors and abuse of helpless persons. An investigation of the complaint revealed that the handling by the State Prosecutor's Office and the Attorney General of an appeal filed against the closure of a case concerning suspicion of violence against minors and abuse of helpless persons in a kindergarten took more than two years. In the framework of the decision, the Acting Ombudsman examined the length of time the appeal was handled and found that the District Attorney's Office, and especially the Attorney General's Office, to whom the Appeals Department transferred the handling of the appeal, greatly exceeded the timetable for handling the appeal in accordance with the relevant instructions of the State Attorney, and that such a long delay in issuing a decision on the appeal, which concerns suspicion of acts of violence against minors and helpless persons, is liable to render meaningless To impair the exercise of the appellant's rights and to erode the public's trust in the state's most senior representatives in the courts. It was also found that the applicant's many requests for status regarding the handling of the appeal were not handled properly, as some of them went unanswered and some received partial and incomplete responses.
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Retired Judge Prof. Menachem Finkelstein - Ombudsman for State Representatives in Courts/Official Website, Ministry of Justice Spokesperson's Office
One of the complaints that was found to be justified in relation to the police prosecution concerned the police registry of suspects, whose case ended in a conditional, erroneous and unreliable settlement. An investigation of the complaint revealed that although a suspect confessed to three offenses as part of a conditional settlement, the police registry in his case contains six additional offenses to which he allegedly confessed, even though these were removed as part of a conditional arrangement, and that the erroneous record has stood for nearly five full years, and has not yet been corrected. It also emerged that this is a systemic flaw of which the police are aware.
The Acting Commissioner ruled that a state of affairs in which the police register of suspects whose case ended in a conditional arrangement is out of date – with all the implications that accompany it – is not at all proper, and should not be accepted. She also noted that the Ombudsman has often stressed the importance of maintaining an accurate and reliable police record, where incorrect documentation may tarnish the suspect's reputation, harm his staff, and even affect future legal proceedings relating to him. As a result, the police announced that an almost complete response had been provided to this situation, and that computerized solutions were being examined, the development of which would be completed within a few months.
DIP/Reuven Castro Offices
The report indicates that the State Attorney's Office did not present to the Supreme Court a relevant opinion in petitions regarding the restriction of demonstrations in the vicinity of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's private residence, and that this was not even brought to their attention before submitting their preliminary response to the petitions. The Acting Commissioner stated in her decision that a serious malfunction occurred when the court was unwittingly presented with an incomplete and erroneous picture, which may have affected the process itself.
The fault was in the coordination and sharing of information between the government respondents in the petition and the State Attorney's Office representing them, and everything possible must be done to prevent its recurrence in the future. Following the above, the Attorney General said that she had asked the Director of the Counseling and Legislative Division to lead a process of learning and drawing conclusions in order to draw conclusions from the case.
MK Odeh was injured in um al-Hiran/Screenshot, from Facebook "The Joint List"
Another important decision made this year that found its place in the report concerns the lack of orderly work procedures for handling complaints about DIP personnel. An investigation of a complaint revealed that the Ministry of Justice does not have an orderly and valid procedure regarding the handling of complaints by the Department for the Inquiry of Interrogees in the Ministry of Justice (MABATAN). This is with the exception of a draft directive from the State Attorney only, which is not officially binding.
The Acting Commissioner determined that anchoring work norms through the formulation of written procedures can create, inter alia, certainty and uniformity in the manner in which the affairs of various citizens are handled by public servants; And that such procedures are particularly important with regard to the activities of MABATAN, since it is a unit of a unique nature in the Ministry of Justice, which has been operating for the past five years in the field of interrogating DIP personnel, without formal regulation. The Acting Commissioner recommended establishing orderly work procedures in this regard.
In addition, the report indicates a decision regarding an unreasonable delay in handling a Knesset member's appeal against the DIP's decision to shelve his complaint due to police violence against him. An investigation of the complaint revealed that the handling of MK Ayman Odeh's appeal against the DIP's decision to shelve his complaint regarding police violence against him during the evacuation of the village of Um al-Hiran took nearly three years, without informing the MK about the delay in handling the appeal, and without requesting that the period of handling the appeal be extended, as required. The Acting Commissioner noted in her decision that although the handling of the appeal required the involvement of various parties, there was a real delay in the case, and that the public sensitivity of the case also supports the conclusion that the state's representatives in the relevant courts must do everything in their power to advance its handling. The Deputy Commissioner emphasized that an unreasonable delay in the appeal may impair the possibility of effectively and justly clarifying the appellant's claims to the point of effectively nullifying the appeal, in practice.
Responses
Minister of Justice Yariv Levin: "I congratulate the Ombudsman for representing the state in the courts for submitting the annual activity report. As the report shows, the Ombudsman's work, by investigating public complaints and pointing out deficiencies in the work of law enforcement officials, contributes to increasing confidence in their work. I thank the unit's employees for their important work."
Director General of the Ministry of Justice, Itamar Donenfeld: "The Commission works to improve and improve the conduct of the state's representatives in the courts, correct work patterns and highlight the various deficiencies that arise in the investigation of the complaints before it. The Ombudsman's work as an independent audit body increases the public's trust in the law enforcement system, and the report shows that alongside a thorough and meticulous investigation of the various public complaints, the Ombudsman is working to provide a quick and efficient response to applicants."
Ombudsman for State Representatives, retired Justice Menachem Finkelstein: "It seems that even in these turbulent times, when disputes regarding the judicial system are sharpening, there is broad agreement on the importance of effective criticism of state prosecutors, who wield great power, and on the need to increase the tools for its optimal implementation."
- More on the subject:
- The State Prosecutor's Office
- DIP
- State Attorney's Office