חוק לתיקון פקודת סדר הדין הפלילי (מעצר וחיפוש) (מס' 16), התשפ"ד–2024Law to Amend Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Arrest and Search) (No. 16), 2024 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

As part of the Law for Combating Illegal Weapons (Legislative Amendment and Temporary Provision), 2023, an amendment was made to the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Arrest and Search) [New Version], 1969 (hereinafter – the Ordinance), adding two new grounds for conducting a search without a judge's warrant, in order to provide the police with effective enforcement tools for eradicating the phenomenon of illegal weapons. The first new ground allows a police officer to conduct a search without a judge's warrant if there is a reasonable suspicion that a weapon or a substantial part of a weapon, which may serve as evidence of an offense, is located at a place, and if due to the immediate need to conduct the search a warrant cannot be obtained. The second new ground allows the police to search documentation or a camera that may serve as evidence of an offense punishable by at least ten years' imprisonment, including a weapons offense, an offense of shooting in a residential area, or an offense of extortion by threats. Regarding both these grounds, it was established that the search will be conducted only with written approval of a police officer at the rank of chief superintendent or higher, which will include the circumstances and reasons for the need for an immediate search without a warrant. It was further established that if during the search an item unrelated to the offense for which the approval to conduct the search was given is discovered, the police officer will be permitted to seize the item and bring it before a judge, who will decide what is to be done with it. These arrangements were established as a temporary provision for a period of one year, starting from 15 May 2023, in order to allow for a review of the proposed arrangements. As part of Amendment No. 16 to the Ordinance, it was established that the temporary provision would be extended until 1 July 2024.

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What was said in the plenum

The bill seeks to extend for a short period a temporary provision granting the police authority to conduct searches without a judicial warrant in cases of suspected illegal weapons or documentation related to serious offenses, against the backdrop of the fight against crime and illegal weapons mainly in Arab society. Most of the discussion did not address the content of the proposal itself but was used for speeches on other topics such as the situation in the north and south, the cost of living, the hostages and the conduct of the war, and the demolition of houses in Arab and Bedouin society, with opposition to the proposal focusing mainly on criticism of the responsible minister and the implementation of the authority rather than on the principle itself.

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An automatic summary of the plenum transcripts: the debate on the bill at every reading it was voted on. Arguments are given as the speakers made them; this is not an assessment. The list of speakers comes from the transcript, without a model. Transcript of the sitting: 1 · write to the author

Reservations to the second reading

1 reservation was filed: proposed changes to the text the committee brought to the second and third reading.

The reservations filed to the law seek to move up the law's effective date to an earlier date than that specified in the original text, while proposing several alternative possible dates.

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By faction

• Ra'am opposition · 1 reservation · 5 members

A joint reservation counts for every faction whose members filed it.

Asked to speak: Naama Lazimi (Labor), Gilad Kariv (Labor), Efrat Rayten Marom (Labor)

Proposers and reservation numbers are extracted automatically from the committee version, and the count is checked against the numbers printed in it. The descriptions are an automatic summary. Committee version for the second and third reading (PDF) · write to the author