Following Adalah's Supreme Court Appeal: State Attorney's Office Instructs Israel Prison Service Not to Block Any Petitions Submitted by Prisoners and to Transfer them to Court Immediately
(Haifa, Israel) On 14 October 2010, the State Attorney's Office announced that new procedures will be implemented and regulations formulated to allow prisoners to submit joint petitions to courts in order to improve their conditions of confinement in prison. The announcement came following an appeal submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court on 8 August 2010 by Adalah and the Haifa University Law Clinic for Prisoners Rights as a result of the Israel Prison Service (IPS) illegally preventing prisoners from submitting join petitions for many years.
In his announcement, the State Attorney noted that the IPS had refused to accept prisoner petitions regarding the circumstances of their detention, and to forward prisoner petitions to the appropriate court authorities. The IPS had also refused to accept petitions signed by more than one prisoner, even in cases that affect numerous prisoners.
Adalah submitted the appeal the Supreme Court on behalf of a prisoner, Mr. Mahmoud Majadbi, from Eshel Prison, following the Beer Sheva District Court's rejection of his initial petition. Mr. Majadbi had asked the District Court to cancel the IPS policy that prohibits joint submissions by prisoners. The Court ruled that the issue poses a theoretical question and that it cannot be addressed within a prisoner petition. The Court held that a prisoner can address the court only on specific matters related to him. In the appeal, Adalah challenged this ruling arguing that a prisoner has the right to challenge principle issues as long as it is related to rights on prison. Access to court is a right that should be guaranteed for prisoners.
In the appeal, Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker argued that there is no legal basis to prevent prisoners from submitting collective petitions regarding the improvement of prison living conditions, thus, the IPS decision is illegal. Further, the IPS is unauthorized to decide whether a case is an individual or collective one, since IPS regulations affect all prisoners, not just individuals. By preventing prisoners from filing joint petitions to courts the IPS is flagrantly violating their right to access to courts as well as their constitutional right to equality.
Case Citation: (Supreme Court) Prisoner's Appeal 5898/10, Mahmoud Majadbi v. Israel Prison Service (IPS)
