חוק לתיקון פקודת המכרות (מס' 13), התשפ"ב-2021Law to amend the Mines Ordinance (No. 13), 2021 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

In 2000, the Mines Ordinance was amended and many enforcement tools were added to it, aimed at eradicating sand theft, illegal mining, and unlawful quarrying. Among other things, a section was added to the Ordinance instructing the court not to release a vehicle seized while committing these offenses, until the conclusion of legal proceedings, in cases where the vehicle's owner or the person responsible on their behalf had committed these offenses in the past, meaning within five years of the date of the offense for which the vehicle was seized, unless there are special reasons to be recorded. According to the provisions of that section, the possibility of ordering the seizure of a vehicle until the conclusion of proceedings also exists when the prior offense was committed by someone other than the vehicle's owner or the person responsible on their behalf. This provision is exceptional, and the justification given for it is the fact that criminal activity in the field of mining and quarrying is carried out using unique and valuable vehicles, which raises concern that they may be transferred between various offenders who have prior acquaintance with each other, such as family relationships, in order to sever the ownership connection of the offenders to these vehicles. This amendment narrows this exceptional provision so that the court may order the release of a vehicle even if a prior offense was committed in it, not by the current owners or the person responsible on their behalf, if there are special reasons, or if the vehicle's owner has proven that they did not know a prior offense had been committed using the vehicle, or if they proved that they had no connection to the perpetrator of the prior offense or to the person who owned the vehicle at the time of the prior offense, which would give rise to a reasonable suspicion that they knew a prior offense had been committed in the vehicle, and also that, if they purchased the vehicle after the prior offense was committed, they paid fair consideration for it. In addition, provisions were added to the Ordinance regarding a one-time transfer of 500 million NIS from the balances held in the Quarry Rehabilitation Fund to the State Treasury, against the backdrop of the economic circumstances created by the coronavirus crisis. The State will return this amount to the Fund's coffers, with the addition of interest and linkage. However, it was determined that these funds will continue to serve as a budgetary source for the Fund's activities as a "safety cushion," in accordance with work plans to be set by the Fund, such that if the Fund foresees at a certain point that during the following three months the cash balance in the Fund is expected to drop below 50 million NIS, it may submit to the Budget Commissioner at the Ministry of Finance a request, signed by the Fund's accountant, for the return of the amount required to maintain the "safety cushion" after fulfilling the Fund's expected commitments during that period, and the State will return the amount stated in the payment request. The date for returning the remaining balance, meaning the amount of the one-time transfer less the amounts transferred from the State Treasury to the Fund in accordance with payment requests submitted during the period, will be set by order of the Ministers of Energy and Finance, by 31 December 2025, provided that the repayment date set will be no later than 31 December 2035. However, if the Ministers do not set such a date by 31 December 2025, the repayment date will be no later than 31 December 2035.

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