International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, 2014, 3, 5-19 5 E-ISSN: 1929-4409/14 © 2014 Lifescience Global Are Crime Victims Being Gagged Under the Israeli Criminal Justice Procedures? Efrat Shoham 1,* and Lior Gideon 2,* 1 Department of Criminology, Ashkelon Academic College, Ashkelon, Israel 2 Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 899 Tenth Ave., New York, NY 10019, USA Abstract: In this conceptual article we examine the issues revolving around crime victims’ participation under the Israeli criminal procedure in recent years. As such, the article discusses the official status of victims, the protections guaranteed by local legislation during the various legal stages--beginning with the criminal investigation procedure through the protections guaranteed under law, and their routine implementation. Specifically, the article discusses changes in Israeli legislation and practice in regard to victims’ rights, while comparing them to those in other countries. Further, the article discusses the introduction of restorative justice to legal procedures in Israel, and its relevance to victims’ rights. It concludes with a recommendation to establish a standardized policy that will assure victims’ rights in order to secure their status while also ensuring that they are being exposed to a therapeutic process that is much needed for the victims, and in particular for domestic and sexual assault victims. Keywords: Victims’ Impact Statement, Sexual victimization, Victims rights, Domestic Violence, Restorative Justice. INTRODUCTION The State of Israel was among the first to join the United Nations (UN) treaty, in the mid. 80’s, calling for justice to crime victims, by promoting their engagement in the criminal process (Yanai, 2003). Alas, almost two decades went by before Israel actually began to establish crime victims’ rights by primary legislation. The present article is a conceptual study that aims to present and examine the issues revolving around the involvement of crime victims in the Israeli criminal procedure at the beginning of the current century. Consequently, this article will discuss the official status of victims and related protections guaranteed during the various stages of the criminal investigation and legal procedure, and their implementations in everyday life. HISTORICAL CONTEXT Under the Israeli justice system, crime victims are considered witnesses of the prosecution; however, most times they were prevented from voicing their experience during the various stages of the legal procedure. Accordingly, in 1987, Judith Carp, then the deputy to the Israeli Attorney General, argued that victims of crimes are the "step-sons" of the criminal *Address correspondence to these authors at the Department of Criminology, Ashkelon Academic College, Ashkelon, Israel; Tel: 086789232; E-mail: shoham@netzer.org.il Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 899 Tenth Ave., New York, NY 10019, USA; Tel: (212) - 237-8991; E-mail: lgideon@jjay.cuny.edu justice system; they feel used, drained and neglected (see Shoham & Regev, 2008). In March of 1992, the legislation of the Israeli bill of rights 1 (Israel currently has no constitution but a bill of rights known as: “The Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom”), dramatically changed criminal law procedures, shifting it from a "crime control" approach to that of "due process", while acknowledging the victim’s legal rights. Three years later, in 1995, Chief Justice Shamgar 2 claimed that The Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom (from here on BLHD&F), carries with it a legal responsibility not just for criminals but for the victims of their crimes as well. Yet, such understanding was not implemented. In fact, toward the end of 1998 the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that “…the traditional legal system in Israel does not allow victims of crime to be part of the procedure taken against the aggressor. The victim’s status in court is that of a prosecution witness and its role is to assist the court in finding the truth.” 3 As such, the Israeli Supreme Court shifted the responsibility from the courts to the legislator. However, the end of the 90’s was characterized by a renewed and ongoing debate over the rights of victims. Such debate rose to public awareness as more voices called to enable victims to actively participate in the various stages of the criminal procedure. The 1 68 (1391), March, 25 th 1992, p. 150. 2 DN”P 2316/95 Imad Gnimat v. State of Israel 49(4), 589. 3 Translated from Hebrew BG”Z7673/98 Elkyam v. Israeli Governmental Legal Counsel, Dinim Elion 55, 286.