Friedmann gets ACRI support on time limit for police probes

Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann's support for imposing a time limit on criminal investigations received backing over the weekend from some of Friedmann's staunchest detractors. Bills on such a time limit come up for discussion tomorrow in the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

Rooting for Friedman's idea on such a limitation are his customary rivals in the Public Defender's Office and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). Some commentators say the justice minister is promoting this legislation to protect politicians and public figures from protracted and sometimes crippling investigations. But his unlikely bedfellows for setting deadlines for police probes are lending themselves to Friedmann's initiative for other reasons.

Sources in ACRI and the Public Defender's Office say they hopped on the wagon to protect ordinary people, suspects who may find themselves the subjects of a seemingly endless police investigation, which the police are not under any obligation to terminate at a given time.

The Public Defender's Office believes the bill is important, Hagit Lernau, deputy chief public defender, wrote Friday to Friedmann. "The protraction of police procedures prior to indictment conflicts with core issues of criminal justice. It infringes on suspects' rights [and] compromises the judicial process and its ability to establish the truth. It also impairs the ability of law enforcement agencies."

Lernau says that when trials are conducted years after the start of an investigation, witness testimonies become less credible. "We see many cases of witnesses taking the stand when it is quite clear they remember very little of the event about which they are testifying."

Such delays make it harder for defendants to base their arguments on facts, says Lernau.

Attorney Sigal Shahav of ACRI said that in some cases, suspects are unable to work as long as the investigation into their actions is pending. "This makes matters even worse," she says.

The Knesset committee is scheduled to review two bills tomorrow. The first, sponsored by MK Dov Khenin (Hadash), proposes to limit the investigations of misdemeanors to six months. More serious offenses would be limited to an investigation of two years. Khenin does not propose to limit investigations of crimes that merit 10 years imprisonment or more.

Under Khenin's bill, only the attorney general would be authorized to extend the deadlines for police probes, and even then by no more than 12 months. The State Prosecutor's Office would also be subject to time limitations for handling cases until the indictment.

Kadima's Otniel Schneller submitted a similar bill.

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is opposed to the idea of limiting the time of police probes. The professional echelons in the Justice Ministry have yet to make their stance clear.