How the Knesset Votes
English

Government bill · 20th Knesset · published as law 28 June 2016

חוק הגבלת שימוש במקום לשם מניעת ביצוע עבירות (תיקון מס' 2), התשע"ו-2016Law Restricting Use of Place for Prevention of Commission of Offences (Amendment No. 2), 2016 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Status: התקבלה בקריאה שלישית

Topics: Police and internal security*, Courts and criminal law* · * from the Knesset's official law classification

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The Law for Restriction of Use of a Place to Prevent the Commission of Offenses (Amendment No. 2), 2016 re-regulates, in a clear manner, the authority to order restrictions on the use of places used for committing offenses. Under the Amendment, instead of the original wording of the law which established parallel administrative and judicial procedures, a single procedure is established, beginning with the issuance of an administrative use-restriction order by a senior police officer and continuing with an extension by the court. In addition, the list of offenses to which the arrangement applies was expanded, so that it now applies to a series of offenses listed in the schedule that pose a danger to the public or to a person, and where there is benefit in severing the connection between the provider of the illegal service and his customers by closing the place.

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Hebrew original

החוק להגבלת שימוש במקום לשם מניעת ביצוע עבירות (תיקון מס' 2), התשע"ו-2016 מסדיר מחדש ובאופן בהיר את הסמכות להורות על הגבלת השימוש במקומות המשמשים לביצוע עבירות. על-פי התיקון, במקום הנוסח המקורי של החוק שקבע הליכים מקבילים, מינהלי ושיפוטי, נקבע הליך אחד שתחילתו במתן צו הגבלת שימוש מינהלי בידי קצין משטרה בכיר והמשכו בהארכה על-ידי בית המשפט. בנוסף, הורחבה רשימת העבירות שעליהן חל ההסדר, כך שיוחלו על שורה של עבירות הקבועה בתוספת שיש בהן משום סכנה לציבור או לאדם, ושיש תועלת בניתוק הקשר בין מי שמספק את השירות הבלתי חוקי ובין הלקוחות שלו באמצעות סגירת המקום.

Readings

What was said in the plenum

The bill expands the existing authority to close places used for committing serious offenses (prostitution, trafficking in women, gambling, drugs) to also include internet sites used for publishing pedophilic materials, illegal gambling, and drug trafficking, and adds additional offenses to the law's schedule. The discussion focused on the question of which offenses should be included in the schedule granting closure authority, and on the claim that the list formulated is not balanced - it includes relatively minor offenses but omits serious offenses that should have been added.

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Hebrew original

הצעת החוק מרחיבה את הסמכות הקיימת לסגור מקומות המשמשים לביצוע עבירות חמורות (זנות, סחר בנשים, הימורים, סמים) גם לאתרי אינטרנט המשמשים לפרסום חומרים פדופיליים, הימורים בלתי חוקיים וסחר בסמים, ומוסיפה עבירות נוספות לתוספת החוק. הדיון התמקד בשאלה אילו עבירות נכונות להיכנס לתוספת המזכה בסמכות סגירה, ובטענה שהרשימה שגובשה אינה מאוזנת - כוללת עבירות קלות יחסית אך מחסירה עבירות חמורות שהיה מקום להוסיף.

Arguments for

  • There is a need to expand the police's authority to close places used for committing serious offenses, in order to deal with crime that is also carried out in the virtual space, where Israeli authorities cannot enforce the law in other ways.
    Silvan Shalom (Likud Yisrael Beytenu)
  • The bill was formulated carefully and with balance, relying on the police's position regarding which offenses require the drastic authority of closure and which can be handled by other means.
    Nissan Slomiansky (Jewish Home)
  • Restrictions and stricter conditions were added to the exercise of this authority, such as the requirement that the offense be carried out at the place as part of its routine activity and not as a marginal or temporary component, as well as limiting the validity of repeated orders, in order to balance the need for enforcement against the infringement of rights.
    Nissan Slomiansky (Jewish Home)

Arguments against

  • Including relatively minor offenses in the schedule, such as possession of a drug for personal use or copyright infringement, grants a police officer alone (not a judge) the authority to close a place based on a non-serious offense, such as a private apartment where a drug is held for personal use.
    Revital Swid (Zionist Union)
  • The law omits serious offenses that should have been added to the schedule, such as publishing and providing information about the prostitution of a minor or advertising prostitution services, and therefore it is inconsistent - minor offenses are included while serious offenses are left out.
    Revital Swid (Zionist Union)
  • The bill was prepared hastily and did not undergo sufficiently thorough deliberation to reach broad agreement (consensus) on the list of appropriate offenses.
    Revital Swid (Zionist Union)
Who spoke (4)
MemberFactionReadingsSpeechesIn the final vote
Silvan ShalomLikud Yisrael BeytenuFirst reading1no record
Nissan SlomianskyJewish Home coalitionThird reading13for
Revital SwidZionist Union oppositionThird reading1against
Mordhay YogevJewish Home coalitionThird reading1for

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. Transcripts of the sittings: 1, 2 · 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 sole reservation filed to the law seeks to expand the list of sections enumerated in the addendum to the law, so that it will also include additional sections from the criminal law.

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Hebrew original

ההסתייגות היחידה שהוגשה לחוק מבקשת להרחיב את רשימת הסעיפים המנויים בתוספת לחוק, כך שיכללו גם סעיפים נוספים מהחוק הפלילי.

By faction

  • Zionist Union opposition · 1 reservation · 1 member
  • Yesh Atid opposition · 1 reservation · 1 member
  • Meretz opposition · 1 reservation · 1 member

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

Who proposed what
  • מיכל רוזין, יעל גרמן ורויטל סויד · 1
    The reservation seeks to add to the proposed addendum, in particular (1), after "205" also sections "205A, 205C, 214(b),".
    Sections: לסעיף 13
    Michal Rozin, Yael German, Revital Swid

Asked to speak: Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism)

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. The reservation numbers in this document cannot be read as text, so the count was not checked against it automatically. Committee version for the second and third reading (PDF) · write to the author

Reservations, sections and other votes (5)

In order. Votes on reservations and individual sections are shown separately from the vote on the bill as a whole.

Source: bill page in the Knesset legislation database ↗

Law Restricting Use of Place for Prevention of Commission of Offences (Amendment No. 2), 2016 · How the Knesset Votes