חוק לתיקון פקודת בתי הסוהר (הוראת שעה), התשפ"ד-2024Law to Amend the Prisons Ordinance (temporary provision), 2024 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

On 7 November 2018, the Law to Amend the Prisons Ordinance (Amendment No. 54 and Temporary Provision), 2018, was published, as one of the responses to the Supreme Court ruling in HCJ 1892/14 Association for Civil Rights in Israel v. Minister of Public Security, which held that the living space of prisoners in prisons must be increased. The Law established, based on the existing administrative release mechanism in the Prisons Ordinance, that the Commissioner shall order the release of prisoners before the end of their prison term, provided they have served at least half of their sentence, in order to ease overcrowding in prisons. It was also established, as a temporary provision for three years, that the maximum periods of administrative release would be increased, in order to further ease overcrowding. It was further established that the expansions of administrative releases under the Law would not apply to security prisoners. Under the Law to Amend the Prisons Ordinance (Amendment No. 57 and Temporary Provisions), 2021, the temporary provision establishing extended administrative release periods was extended by seven months, with two changes. First, it was established that prisoners convicted of sex offenses, domestic violence, and serious violence, who were sentenced to less than three years' imprisonment, would be eligible for the extended administrative release only if the release committee examined their case individually and found them suitable for early release. Second, the extended administrative release periods were reduced for prisoners sentenced to between 18 and 36 months' imprisonment. Later, under the Law to Amend the Prisons Ordinance (Temporary Provisions), 2023, the temporary provision regarding the extended administrative release arrangement set out in the Prisons Ordinance was extended until 31 July 2023, with several changes, the main ones being the cancellation of administrative release for security prisoners, the expansion of the administrative release period for prisoners sentenced to 18 to 36 months' imprisonment, and setting the prison capacity standard at 14,500. Now, under the current amendment, it is established that the validity of the extended administrative release arrangement as described shall be extended until 30 November 2024, and that the prison capacity standard shall continue to stand at 14,500 incarceration places until 30 November 2024.

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