The High Court accepted the position of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and partner organizations that the right to electricity is a constitutional right inextricably linked to the right to life and health, and ruled that the Electricity Authority amend the standards for disconnection of electricity and to collect debt by more moderate means than disconnections.
ACRI’s response: “We hope that the ruling, which opens with the words ‘Let there be light,’ brings in a new era when it comes to protecting vulnerable populations from electricity disconnections.”
This morning, a ruling was given on the petition by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, filed together with the Clinic for Human Rights at Tel Aviv University, Physicians for Human Rights, and the Association of Social Workers and Physicians for Human Rights regarding the policy of electricity disconnections.
Attorney Maskit Bendel from ACRI and Adi Nir Binyamini from the Human Rights Clinic at Tel Aviv University responded to the ruling: “On the coldest day of the year, as some are left without the ability to heat their homes, the High Court accepted our position that the right to electricity is constitutional, linked to the right to live in dignity, and thus mandated the Electricity Authority to amend the criteria for disconnections, to abstain from disconnecting the impoverished, and to collect debt by more moderate means that do not involve disconnecting services. The verdict also forbade the Electricity Authority from continuing to disconnect people without a fair procedure and hearing involving the consumer. We hope this verdict – which opened with the words ‘let there be light,’ brings in the new era regarding protecting vulnerable populations from electricity disconnections.”