Last update - 00:00 30/11/2007
Justice Minister: More defense lawyers will be made judges
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann promised on Thursday to select more defense lawyers as criminal court judges in a bid to make sure defendants receive fair trials.
Friedmann told participants at a law convention that a guilty verdict was handed down in nearly 100 percent of criminal cases, and said he questioned whether the judicial system promised defendants a fair trial.
"The percentage of convictions is very high, and raises the question of whether they are always justified," he said. "Increasing the number of judges with backgrounds in criminal defense might bring a different way of thinking. We'd like judges to be able to distinguish between when guilt has been proven beyond reasonable doubt, and when an acquittal is in order."
He said there was no guarantee that former defense lawyers would be more lenient or inclined to acquit defendants. Many defense lawyers turned judges have been "the scourge of criminals," he added.
Friedmann, who was attending an event organized by the Israel Bar Association, continued his campaign to pass a bill to increase penalties for serial offenders. The bill is under discussion in the Knesset.
"Professional criminals - law-offenders by profession - must be punished more severely," he said. "Today the punishment for stealing a hundred shekels or a million shekels is the same. That has to change, and the two instances must be differentiated."
If passed, the law will bring about a "drastic change" between sentences meted out to serious criminals and first-time offenders, he said.
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