West Bank military court verdicts now admissible in Israeli civilian courts

The Israeli parliament passed a new law on Monday that means verdicts of military courts in the West Bank will be recognised as admissible evidence in Israeli civilian courts.

According to Haaretz, “to date verdicts by military courts have not been recognized in Israel and Israeli law does not extend to the [occupied] territories. Sovereignty in the area belongs to the head of the Israel Defense Forces Central Command, who issues laws using general’s commands.”

The law’s sponsor, MK Anat Berko (Likud), said that “the law will make it easier for victims of terror to demand compensation from convicted terrorists in civilian courts since they will not have to begin the legal process from zero, rather can base on evidence already produced in military courts.”

The conviction rate of Palestinians in Israel’s military courts in the occupied West Bank is 99.7 per cent, according to a 2011 report.

During the debate in the Knesset plenum, lawmakers claimed that the law was “the first step in an attempt to apply Israeli legislation in the territories.”MK Osama Saadi (Joint List) described the new bill as “a continuation of a series of laws that we will witness in the near future.”

He continued:“Today in the reform committees they held a discussion to equate building and planning laws in Israel and the occupied territories. Call the child by its real name and don’t stand for a laundry of words – we’re talking about a creeping annexation.”

MK Yousef Jabareen (Joint List) expressed his hope that the law will be “voided in the future by the High Court for being blatantly unconstitutional.”

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit once warned against such a move, writing that “a ruling by a court that is not authorized to rule in Israel, including the rulings of a military court, cannot be used as evidence in a civil procedure in Israel.”

He added: “This position emerges from the wording of the [relevant] clause, its purpose, the principles of our methodology and the rules of international law.”