חוק השיפוט הצבאי (תיקון מס' 75), התשע"ח-2018Law on Military Justice (Amendment No. 75), 2018 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The Military Justice Law (Amendment No. 75), 2018 was passed in its second and third readings on 16 July 2018. The law includes two main subjects: First, the law abolishes the rape offense set out in the Military Justice Law, leaving military courts, which hear offenses committed by soldiers, with jurisdiction to hear the rape offense set out solely in the Penal Law. This means that those convicted of this offense will face a minimum sentence of four years' imprisonment, and the statute of limitations period for this offense will increase from three years to ten years. On the other hand, as a result of equalizing the level of punishment, the maximum sentence for the offense will be reduced from twenty years' imprisonment to sixteen. Second, the law applies the provisions of the Rights of Victims of Crime Law, 2001, to the Military Police and military courts. This law, which until now applied only to the Israel Police and civilian courts, grants crime victims rights and status in criminal proceedings conducted against someone suspected, charged, or convicted of committing sex offenses or violence that harmed them. The law fully adopts the existing arrangement in the civilian criminal justice system, except in cases where changes were required due to structural and procedural differences between the systems, as well as changes arising from the nature of military service. These changes include, among others, a provision granting the crime victim the right to protection at their place of service from the suspect, defendant, or convicted person, as will be determined in military orders; informing the crime victim of a decision to transfer proceedings to disciplinary action, and of the results of the disciplinary proceeding; expanding the list of offenses to include military violence offenses (such as violence against a commander, violence against a soldier, abuse, etc.), and more. In several areas the arrangement was expanded even further than the civilian arrangement, the most notable being the expansion of the list of sex offenses to also include offenses under the Protection of Privacy Law committed in a sexual context or for sexual motives. The chapter dealing with the rights of crime victims will take effect in stages, part of it entering into force on 1 November 2018, and part on 1 January 2021.

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