"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" The law that will deprive you of rights
The intentions behind the new bill that would turn criminal traffic offenses into administrative ones may be good, but in practice it is an automatic sentencing mechanism and the denial of basic civil rights - this is how the system will work
Keenan Cohen
11/05/2022
Wednesday, 11 May 2022, 15:56 Updated: 16:09
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The Economics Committee began this morning in preparation for the second and third readings of the government bill according to which traffic offenses are currently defined as criminal with a choice of fine and trial for administrative.
In other words, a direct transition from the reporting stage to the payment of the fine without the possibility of appealing in the way it can be appealed today.
And the intentions at the base of this move were good, or so we want to believe.
MK Limor Magen Telem, who took the place of the chairman of the economics committee, said at the beginning of the discussion that: "I believe that this is an important reform that will work for the benefit of the entire public, and will be a first swallow that will turn additional criminal offenses into administrative violations."
This is also what the representatives of the Ministry of Justice behind the law said, according to the director general of the Ministry of Justice, Adv. Eran Davidi. "The burden on the courts, as well as the service to the citizen, who has been waiting a long time for his day in court, has been affected."
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To the full article
Justice Minister Gideon Saar, one of the promoters of the new law (Photo: Reuven Castro)
According to the Ministry of Justice, 100,000 cases are deleted every year due to the congestion in the courts and this fact is exploited by serial offenders.
This statement encapsulates three very basic problems that also describe the basic failure of the traffic court system today.
The first is that when the courts are in a "market" situation where the plaintiff and the appellant close transactions outside the courtroom, this is by the way the way most cases are closed.
This leads to a high motivation to approach and appeal the report knowing that if the police do not have a basis for a conviction, they will prefer to compromise. The third is the fact that when the police have to deal with the presentation of evidence and investigation in the courts, quite a few reports dissolve and turn out to be problematic.
Should I get a report on higher speeds? (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Additional points that challenged the usefulness of the law were raised by the chairman of the Transport Committee of the Bar Association, Adv. Yossi Yaakobi, who highlighted the fact that the state waives the criminal procedure, but not the points that accrue to the driver's duty.
That is, in the event that the reports become administrative violations, the speed with which a driver will lose his license will be higher if only due to the difficulty of obtaining a fair trial, since according to the bill, these appeals will be zoomed out - without witnesses, without questioning Even before we touched on people with low abilities to operate computer systems and zoom calls.
The absurdity in the situation that may arise was explained as an example where a driver caught at a speed of 170 km / h on a 120 km / h road will receive a report of NIS 1,500 and 10 points to be included in the administrative violations without a judicial proceeding. The offense, on the other hand, if caught at 171 km / h, he is already considered a speeding driver who deviates from the realm of administrative violations and is required to be prosecuted - which is precisely where his chances of getting "cheap" out of the story are higher.
Since this name will be the duty of the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the offense.
That is, it would be better for the driver to get a report on higher speed. Does that mean we seem to be convincing police officers to give them a more serious report than they deserve just to get to trial?
Not unfounded.
According to Adv. Yaakobi, the allegations that there is a load in the traffic courts are also inaccurate, at least not in the center where traffic judges discuss 1,500-700 cases a year. He did note that the situation in the north is different , Should also tell the truth, it is not difficult to understand why the traffic lawyers also have a clear economic interest in continuing the current system.
MK Yaakov Margi "The road to hell is full of good intentions (Photo: Knesset Spokeswoman, Danny Shem Tov)
MK Yaakov Margi, former chairman of the economics committee himself, commented on the proposal and said he had no doubt about the justice minister's good intentions to streamline the justice system, "but sometimes the road to hell is paved with good intentions."
MK Margie asked for data on the congestion in the courts and asked what was causing it. He warned that the citizen would be harmed because he could not deal with the abuse of bodies like the police, and called for the examination to leave the burden of proof on the policeman who gave the report.
MK Osama Saadi added In the name of the war on traffic offenses and congestion in the courts, public rights are violated, making the trial obtainable in writing and before a person who does not know who he is.
"How can a citizen defend himself and prove his innocence? In a zoom? How will it be possible to bring witnesses? Investigate a policeman? This will be the word of the citizen versus the word of the policeman," MK Saadi said.
At the conclusion of the discussion, the chairman of the committee asked the Ministry of Justice to submit additional data requested by the Knesset members in preparation for the next meeting at which the committee will begin discussing the sections of the bill themselves.
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