In a letter dated 18 January 2006, Boaz Okun, the Director of Courts Administration, informed Adalah that, beginning from 15 February 2006, court hearings will no longer be held in Shata Prison but will be transferred either to an ordinary court or to a courtroom located in Tzalmon Prison (in the north of Israel). The hearings will be open to the public without exception or limitation. This decision came in response to a letter sent by Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker on 5 October 2005 to the Director of Courts Administration demanding an end to the holding of court hearings in Shata Prison, in view of their many legal defects.

The main development resulting from the Director of Courts Administration’s decision is the opening up of court hearings for prisoners to the public. Previously, it was necessary for anyone wishing to attend those hearings, including a prisoner’s family members and journalists, to obtain special permission in advance from a prison warden.

In Adalah’s letter, which was addressed to the Attorney General (AG) and the Minister of Justice, as well as the Director of Courts Administration, Attorney Baker detailed the many violations of the prisoners’ constitutional rights entailed by the hearings in Shata Prison, most notably the right to an open trial and the right to receive a fair trial. Adalah stressed that closed hearings also violate the public’s right to know, in particular, that of the families of prisoners and journalists’ ability to report on these events for a wide audience.

Court hearings on the petitions of prisoners incarcerated in the Galilee area are held in a small room designated for this purpose in Shata prison. A judge travels to the prison from the Nazareth District Court once or twice every two weeks and hears and decides on the petitions of many prisoners in a short space of time. In the room sits the judge, a legal intern and a typist to record the minutes of the hearings. Close by, prison representatives sit in order, accompanied by an attorney from the AG’s Office who represents the Israel Prison Service (IPS). The prisoners and their attorneys stand outside this room until their case is called. During their wait, they are forbidden from entering the room to attend the hearings unrelated to their own cases.

Unlike hearings held in ordinary courts, which are public, anyone wishing to attend court hearings in Shata Prison must request permission in advance from a prison warden. Persons with a criminal record are not allowed to enter these hearings unless they obtain a special permit from the Director of the Northern Prisons’ District, a procedure which is not required in ordinary courts.

Following the Director of Courts Administration’s decision, prisoners’ petitions will be discussed in ordinary, open courts or the courtroom in Tzalmon Prison, which meets all of the formal conditions of a courtroom, and in particular with regards to allowing entry to the public. In addition, the holding of court hearings in Tzalmon Prison will require a court decision and can be opposed by prisoners, giving their reasons.