Summary
Amendment No. 8 (2012) to the Civil Wrongs Law on state liability, redefining an act of war, extending the no-liability exemption to residents of a declared enemy territory retroactively, and confining cases to two district courts, which Adalah’s Discriminatory Laws Database presents in a Description-only entry on the 1967 Occupied Territories (Discriminatory Laws Database, lines 1242-1280).
Details
- The amendment redefines “act of war”, replacing a requirement of imminent danger to soldiers’ life and body with consideration of the operation in terms of its nature, including its purpose, location, or the danger to the security force as a result of conducting it (line 1259).
- The state may invoke “no liability” for an act of war as a preliminary argument, which the court must consider and decide without hearing any evidence, dismissing the case if the act is an act of war (line 1261).
- The original exemption for residents of enemy states is extended to persons who are not citizens or residents of Israel and are residents of a territory outside Israel declared an “enemy territory” in a governmental decree — applicable to Gaza, declared an “enemy entity” — and applies retroactively to 12 September 2005, the date of Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, so pending cases may be dismissed. The entry notes that this contradicts a 2005 Supreme Court ruling that struck down a sweeping “conflict zones” exemption, and notes a further Supreme Court ruling from 2006 (lines 1263-1267).
- Only the Southern and Jerusalem District courts may hear the relevant cases, although other districts are significantly easier for lawyers and Palestinian plaintiffs to access (line 1267). A linked position-paper sub-item follows the entry, a memorandum on the amendment by Adalah, ACRI and HaMoked, with the 2006 Supreme Court ruling listed under Court Judgments (lines 1275-1279).
Related pages
Discriminatory Laws Database, Adalah, Gaza, Israeli Supreme Court