Justice Minister orders drafting of bill limiting length of criminal probes

Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann ordered officials at the Justice Ministry on Monday to draft a bill that would limit the duration of police criminal investigations, as well as the handling of the case by the police and the prosecution.

In charge of the work is attorney Rachel Gotlieb, who is the deputy attorney general for criminal matters.

Friedmann announced his decision at a ministerial meeting for constitutional matters, where it was also decided that he would meet with Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and MK Dov Khenin (Hadash), who prepared a similar bill, to examine whether it is possible to adjust the two proposals.

Although Friedmann expressed his support for limiting the duration of criminal investigations, he opted to point to the probe of a politician Avigdor Lieberman, which lasted more than six years.

"The case of Minister Lieberman is unacceptable," Friedmann said at the meeting. "I have no personal relation with him, he is not my friend, but under the current method he can be questioned even for 20 years. The current situation is unacceptable and it is impossible to reconcile it."

Friedmann also proposed that the justice minister be given the authority, in keeping with a decision of the Knesset Constitution Committee, to allow some types of investigations to be free of the time restriction. One such example would be security-related cases.