Israeli Judicial System - Criminal Procedure

Criminal Procedure

Israel is unique among Western nations due to the absence of juries in its legal system. Rather, all trials are conducted before either one judge or a three-judge panel.

A suspect arrested in Israel is typically interrogated by police. Though police are allowed to lie to a suspect during interrogation, anyone facing police interrogation has the right to consult a lawyer beforehand, and an interrogating officer must warn a suspect that he or she does not have to say anything self-incriminating, and that anything said might be used against them in court.

Everyone accused of a criminal offense has the right to be represented by an attorney, and if the accused cannot afford a private attorney, one is assigned to them from the Public Defender's Office. Prosecutions are handled by the State Attorney's Office, which consists of a central bureau and eight regional offices.

Following a verdict, the defense or prosecution has the right to appeal to a higher court. If an appeal is rejected, Israeli law provides for the possibility to ask the Supreme Court for a retrial, though it is very rare to be granted a retrial. Between 1948 and 2012, only 21 cases were granted a retrial, about half of which ended in reconfirmation of a defendant's guilt.

Administrative detention and closed trials are allowed in cases involving security and illegal immigration. Anyone subjected to administrative detention and a possible closed trial has the right to be represented by an attorney, and may appeal their detention to the Supreme Court. The burden of proof rests on the prosecution to prove that closed proceedings are necessary.

Over 85% of criminal cases filed with Israeli courts end with a plea bargain. Though accepting a plea bargain is considered a de facto guilty plea, it also leads to a lighter sentence. Of the cases that do go to trial, 71.5% end with a partial conviction, 21.6% with a full conviction, and 0.3% end with a full acquittal. Another 2.1% of cases are dismissed after the defendant is found incompetent to stand trial, 1.2% are dismissed over technicalities, and in 0.9% the charges are dropped.