Summary
The military court system for the Area constituted by the Order regarding Security Provisions (No. 1651), 5770-2009: military courts of first instance established by proclamation of the military commander of the region, and a military court of appeals, staffed by IDF officer-judges appointed by the Commander of IDF Forces in the Area on a Selection Committee’s choice (forces-2009-order-regarding-security-provisions, PDF p.4-6).
Details
- Jurisdiction (PDF p.4): any offense defined in security legislation and law, including pre-entry offenses, acts outside the region meant to harm its security or public order, and specified offenses in area A (section 10).
- Composition (PDF p.5-6): a court of first instance sits as three judges or a single judge; a single judge may impose at most ten years’ imprisonment in one sentence (sections 15-17). The appeals court sits as three, as five for death-penalty appeals and specified cases, and as one judge for detention matters and appeals from single judges below the stated thresholds (section 19).
- Judges (PDF p.4-5): IDF officers meeting rank and legal-experience thresholds by post, appointed by the Commander according to the seven-member Selection Committee’s choice, with tenure ending only on the stated grounds (sections 11-14).
- Juvenile sittings (PDF p.22): a military juvenile court — a first-instance court presided over by a trained juvenile judge — tries minors under sixteen, arrest and release proceedings excepted (sections 136-138).
- Appeal and retrial (PDF p.23-24): first-instance rulings are appealable within thirty days, extendable by the appeals president or duty president; a death sentence is appealed automatically (sections 151-156). The appeals president may order a retrial on the four grounds in section 157, on a request within 90 days of learning of the ground, the retrial being before a court of three with no harsher punishment on a rehearing (sections 157-162).
- Sentencing powers (PDF p.24-25): punishment may not exceed the offense’s stipulated punishment (s.164); the death penalty requires a unanimous panel of three judges of lieutenant colonel rank or above and is barred for an offense committed under eighteen (s.165); and a peremptory ruling authorizes any soldier to execute the sentence (s.163).
- Administrative-detention review (PDF p.43-44): under Chapter I’s first regime a judge reviews an Area commander’s detention order within 96 hours and rehear it at no later than three months (sections 275-276); under the temporary regime substituted by section 284, a judge of major’s rank or above reviews within eight days, with appeal to an appeals judge (sections 287-288).
- Committees under Chapter I (PDF p.45-48): restraining orders and special supervision are appealed not to the court but to an appeals committee appointed by the appeals president, sitting with a judge of major rank or above, which may accept undisclosed evidence on the security formula (sections 296-297); deportation orders are reviewed by a committee of judges of major rank or above appointed by the Commander of IDF Forces in the Area, sitting singly or in threes, which must see a person in custody within eight days of the order (four if under 18) and review at sixty days (sections 305-309).
- Retrial ground added in 2010 (PDF p.57): Amendment No.2 (Order No. 1658) adds a fifth ground for an appeals-president retrial order to section 157 — a real concern that the conviction caused a miscarriage of justice.
Related pages
forces-2009-order-regarding-security-provisions, order-regarding-security-provisions, Israel Defense Forces, West Bank