STUDY GUIDES:

Israeli Law

Israeli Military Orders

International Law

International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Wall

Background Principles	DETAILS AND QUOTES ILLUSTRATING HOW ISRAELI LAWS LEGALIZE DISCRIMINATION, OPPRESSION AND EXPLOITATION: I. LAWS COMPROMISING DEMOCRACY - Israel compromises the democratic nature of its government ... 1. Lopsided Government - Legislature-dominated government.
Point to be Examined	A. Not developing a Constitution or Bill of Rights by which to judge the law-making activities of the Knesset -
Details Requested	1) Quasi-Constitution -- Even though the Knesset has created a committee to create a Constitution, they have not succeeded. Instead they passed the Harrari Resolution (1950) wherein they resolved to create a special class of national laws, called the Basic Laws, which define the basic institutions and structures and principles of the government of Israel. So far 11 Basic Laws have been created. The Laws are given special protections against too easily changing and updating, but they are not given special status to impact the law-making activities of the Knesset (except the last two); 2) Quasi-Bill of Rights -- The last two Basic Laws passed (Basic Law: Freedom of Vocation (1992) and Basic Law: Human Freedom and Dignity (1992)) both have power of judicial review - they can be used to limit and influence the law-making activities of the Knesset. Some consider these two laws to be the beginning of a Bill of Rights because they contain many civil rights (such as right to choose one's vocation, right to privacy, right to property, etc.), but they still do not mention equal rights for all Israelis under the law;

Return: to the BEGINNING of this document.

This article has opened in a separate window. To close or minimalize, click in appropriate boxes in upper right of the window.

(C) Israel Law Resource Center, February, 2007.