MK Yousef Jabareen, Adalah seek new hearing on Israeli Supreme Court decision blocking Knesset members from visiting 'security prisoners'

24/09/2020

Ban stipulates only specific Knesset members authorized by Israel’s internal security minister may visit Palestinian ‘security prisoners’; ban violates MKs' immunity and parliamentary rights.

Following the 14 July 2020 Israeli Supreme Court ruling on the petition filed by Knesset Member Dr. Yousef Jabareen (on behalf of the Joint List) and Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel against the sweeping ban on visitations by MKs to Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in Israeli prisons, Adalah and MK Jabareen filed on Tuesday, 22 September 2020, a request for an additional hearing.

In the July 2020 decision, each justice had a different ruling. One voted to dismiss the petition, rejecting Adalah's legal arguments; another justice voted to delete the petition, noting that recent suggested changes required the submission of a new petition; and the third justice ruled that an order nisi ("order to show cause") should be issued, as the petition raises important constitutional issues regarding the rights of parliamentarians.

In the petition for an additional hearing filed Tuesday, Adalah attorneys Hassan Jabareen and Myssana Morany appealed the interpretation given in the judgment to the section on freedom of movement in the Knesset Members' Immunity Law, as well as the Israel Prison Service (IPS) commissioner's authority to deny the basic rights enjoyed by Knesset members.

Case Citation: HCJ 4252/17, MK Dr. Yousef Jabareen v. The Knesset, et. al.

CLICK HERE to read the motion for an additional hearing [Hebrew]