Last update - 00:00 07/02/2007
High Court tells Winograd to consider opening deliberations to public
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
The High Court of Justice on Wednesday instructed the Winograd Committee, which is investigating the conduct of the second Lebanon war, to consider opening its meetings to the public and to release when possible protocols of testimonies delivered in the next stage of deliberations.
The committee said in response to the ruling that it would consider publishing partial testimonies from its deliberations, that do not contain sensitive security information, before submitting its interim report to the government, sometime in March.
The court rejected a petition submitted by Meretz faction whip Zahava Gal-On which called on the committee to open deliberations to the public and to reveal protocols of testimonies already delivered.
The justices ruled in response to the petition that if additional testimonies were heard in the next stage of the panel's deliberations, "it is presumed that the committee will operate according to the general rule of openness in deliberations, and will examine the question of allowing testimonies to be heard - in full, or partially - in public.
"With regard to the publication of protocols from committee meetings - the committee will review the essence of public deliberation, and it should be assumed that it will begin to publish some of the protocols authorized for release at a reasonable date, and prior to submission of its final report to the government."
The court's decision was unanimously approved by Supreme Court President Dorit Benisch, Deputy Supreme Court President Eliezer Rivlin and Justice Ayala Procaccia.
Gal-On requested in her petition an open-door policy for Winograd meetings and to publish protocols of the deliberations, except in cases where the testimony could cause real harm to state security. In addition, Gal-On asked for a temporary injunction to be issued freezing the panel's deliberations and testimonials until her petition had been ruled upon.