Prosecution for the October 7, 2023 Massacre Events (Shemini Atzeret Massacre) Bill

What does the bill do?

It was provided that the indictments will be filed with a dedicated military court seated in Jerusalem, which will be authorized to try offenses under any law. This includes that the court will be authorized to try offenses under the Crime of Genocide (Prevention and Punishment) Law, harm to state sovereignty, causing war, and terrorism offenses. The court will be composed of two instances, a first instance and an appellate instance, and will generally sit in panels of three judges. The law sets specific arrangements for appointing the judges from among serving judges, retired judges and jurists who will be specially selected for these proceedings. As for the parties, the prosecutors in the proceedings will be appointed by the IDF Chief of Staff on the recommendation of the Military Advocate General, and regarding the defense, the defendant will be able to choose a defense attorney, but it was provided that if the court appoints a defense attorney for the defendant, they will not be from the Public Defender's Office and their funding will not come from state funds. The regular laws of criminal procedure and evidence will apply to the proceedings. However, the court is granted a general power to deviate from these laws for reasons to be recorded, if this is necessary to discover the truth and do justice and does not substantially harm the fairness of the proceeding. In addition, the laws of detention after the filing of an indictment were adapted so that the court was authorized to order extensions of the defendants' detention for periods longer than those set in the regular law. Regarding the defendants' presence at hearings, it was provided that, as a rule, they will participate in court hearings not in their physical presence in the courtroom but by video conference, except in substantive hearings. The law also sets special arrangements concerning ensuring the rights of victims of the offense through a dedicated system to be set up by the Chief Military Prosecutor, and the publicity of the hearings is regulated, including visual and audio documentation of the hearings and broadcasting parts of them to the public. In terms of administrative preparation, it was provided that the IDF Chief of Staff will establish a dedicated headquarters that will be responsible for preparing for the proceedings. In addition, a government steering committee headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Defense will be established to set out the preparations and supervise them, and the establishment of a special guard unit in the Israel Prison Service for the military court is regulated. In addition, the law authorizes the Minister of Defense to set provisions regarding the execution of a sentence imposing the death penalty, and sets a ban on the early release of prisoners involved in these events.