Supreme Court hears NGOs’ position on "Anti-Boycott Law," issues order nisi from "order to show cause" mandating state to justify law, and expands judicial panel

11/12/2012

Yesterday, 10 December 2012, following a petition from Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) on behalf of eight civil society organizations, the Israeli Supreme Court issued an order nisi (order to show cause) asking the State to justify the legality of the “Anti-Boycott Law” within four months. Lawyers and lawmakers, including the Attorney General of the Knesset, have harshly criticized the law, which allows entities to demand compensation in civil court from individuals or organizations who call for a boycott of Israeli settlements or Israel without having to prove actual damages. Additionally, the law permits the Minister of Finance to impose financial penalties, including the removal of tax exceptions, on NGOs that call for a boycott. The Supreme Court announced its decision to expand the panel of justices hearing the law.

Adalah attorney Sawsan Zaher, who represented the petitioners before the court, said that Adalah was pleased by the decision. “The Supreme Court judges recognized the constitutional problems with this law, which severely infringes on the constitutional rights to freedom of expression and freedom to protest.” She added that “It would have been better had the law been cancelled, though given the opposition of the legal advisors, it is not surprising that it faces harsh criticism from the court. We hope that the Supreme Court will accept our petition and strike down this law.”

Attorneys Hassan Jabareen and Sawsan Zaher of Adalah and Attorney Dan Yakir of ACRI represented the petition in court on behalf of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel; HaMoked – Center for the Defence of the Individual; Yesh Din, and three organizations that promote an economic boycott as a means to end the Occupation: the Coalition of Women for Peace, a women’s rights organization that runs “Who Profits?” a project that monitors companies benefitting from the Occupation; the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel, which calls for a boycott of Israeli settlement products; and the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, which believes that calling on the people of East Jerusalem to boycott Israel constitutes peaceful resistance to the Occupation.

Supreme Court Justices Asher Grunis, Esther Hayut, and Salim Joubran heard the petition against the law on Wednesday 5 December 2012. Attorney Zaher said in the hearing that the Anti-Boycott Law “strikes at the heart of the right to expression, emptying it of content.” She added that a ruling on the case cannot be delayed as unripe (or premature) because “the mere existence of the law keeps individuals and organizations from expressing themselves freely, forcing them to change their behaviors and activities.” Justice Joubran asked the Attorney General directly during the hearing: “Most of the judicial advisors, including you, strongly criticized this law… doesn’t that raise a red flag?”

Case citation: HCJ 2072/12, The Coalition of Women for Peace, et al v. The Minister of Finance, et al.(case pending)

For media inquiries, please contact:

Adalah Media Director Salah Mohsen: 0525950922 or Ophir Bar-Zohar: 052-610-2301

For more information see: Adalah Press Release 3 December 2012