Last update - 00:00 05/06/2007
Friedmann seeks new version of 'Intifada Law,' bypassing court
By Yuval Yoaz
Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann ordered ministry officials Monday to draft a new version of a law that exempts the state from compensating Palestinians for damage caused in the course of non-combat activities in the territories.
If such a law passes, it will mark the first time the Knesset has reenacted legislation that was overturned by the High Court of Justice. The court overturned the original law, known as the Intifada Law, in December 2006, four years after its enactment.
Friedmann has asked that the government-sponsored legislation be ready within the next two weeks, even if its passage will also require a change in the Basic Law. For the new intifada law to survive judicial review, the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom will likely need to be amended - also for the first time.
On the other hand, Friedmann might prefer to revise the Basic Law on the Judiciary to explicitly state that the High Court has no authority to rule on the constitutionality of the new law.
It is unclear whether the Knesset has the authority to pass a previously overturned law without changing the wording, or whether it must adhere to the guidelines set by the court. It is also uncertain that the High Court would automatically overturn the legislation if it passed without any changes.
Friedmann called for the changes as the ministerial committee for legislation rejected a private member's bill sponsored by MK Michael Eitan (Likud) that would effectively reinstate the Intifada Law. "Anyone who reads [former Supreme Court president Aharon] Barak's verdict realizes that there is miscommunication between what the legislature wrote and what the judge read," Eitan's bill states. "This bill aims to fix the mistake that the court made in overturning the law."
Friedmann said that Justice Ministry officials need to "examine legal ways in which to reenact the law in a legal manner - if necessary, even by amending the Basic Law." He added that the High Court should not have overturned the Intifada Law, which he said was "more than proportionate."
There are not many instances in which one nation pays compensation to another while they are fighting each other, Friedmann explained. He noted that the High Court's decision created 2,000 to 3,000 potential lawsuits, incurring the costs of hiring more judges and lawyers to deal with the cases in addition to any compensation payments.
The unanimous 2006 High Court verdict, penned by Barak, held that "this expansion of the state's lack of responsibility is unconstitutional. It frees the state from [responsibility for] acts of damage that have nothing to do with combat activity. There is nothing in the ordinary law enforcement activity carried out by the security forces that justifies its removal from the domain of regular torts law."
The ruling did not address the issue of whether the civil rights guaranteed by the Basic Laws apply to Palestinians.