Body Search in Israel: The New Bill (Law Proposition)

Criminal law is not a theoretical field but a very active and real one, affecting every one of us on a daily basis.

A new bill ("Atsa’at Chok" - number 584) is being introduced in our parliament. Its goal is "to increase the personal security of citizens and residents of Israel" which means “to authorize a person`s body search by a police officer (any policeman) in order to prevent violence in general".

The current law:

The current law determines that a police officer`s authority to conduct a body search is limited to "reasonable suspicion" that the suspect is hiding an object associated with a violation of the law or by a specific warrant issued by the courts.

What is the legal test concerning "Reasonable Suspicion" today:

This concept is concerned with "objective suspicion", meaning that "this specific suspicion would be likely formed in another policeman in that same situation".

The proposed approach:

The proposal allows any police officer to search a person`s body in public places, even if they are not criminal suspects. No more need as in the past that the person must be held as "suspicious" for committing an offense and / or that this "suspected person" is carrying an object related to a violation of the law.

Places where a policeman could make a physical search are those that have been "defined as a place where there is potential violence” such as: Clubs, pubs, discos and other places of this kind, where alcohol is served or sold. The law will also apply to places where games are conducted using machines, pool games, cards and dice as well as sports fields.

The potential results:

The result will be constant fear that the citizen can or will be troubled by the police in a public place, without any concrete justification; the fear of being humiliated in public and of being subject to an offensive search on his body which may be performed unnecessarily.

The bill is wide and arbitrary. Physical searches of harmful discrimination on the basis of origin, nationality, etc. will certainly be a “common occurrence " and if a citizen has the wrong look or color he might be searched endless times for no justified reason.

The conclusion:

Therefore, it is inconceivable that the presence of person in a random public place, which in itself is not enough to suspect he or she is committing a crime, result in authorizing a police officer to search a person in public or even a search in private.

We need to make this country a better place to live in and the eradication of our daily and growing violence is a general and primary interest of our society.

In a democratic society the question, however, is of checks and balances to achieve these goals, such as personal safety, security, etc. A democracy cannot afford to obtain these important goals by crushing basic rights of its citizens or by suppressing elementary rights such as privacy and liberty.

Only in extreme situations should these basic rights be overruled.

We are all human beings, including police officers. There are many fine officers, but there are also many out there with very little understanding of the democratic process and civil rights. By giving them more power (more than the already too much power they presently have) will cause a shift in the already fragile balance between the obligation to maintain the law and the right to walk freely in the streets without being the subject of a humiliating and unnecessary search.

Sincerely,
 

Tzvi Szajnbrum, Attorney at Law