Severe overcrowding in Israeli prisons prompted the Knesset to establish a mechanism allowing the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to grant early releases known as administrative release. In response to a High Court ruling following a petition by ACRI, which sought to expand the minimum living space per prisoner, the Administrative Release Law was amended in late 2018. This amendment aimed to alleviate overcrowding by broadening eligibility for administrative release; however, it notably excluded security prisoners.
Initially, the proposed law sought to extend the duration of administrative release based on the length of a prisoner's sentence, irrespective of the nature of their offense. However, after media reports suggested that this could lead to the early release of numerous security prisoners, a clause was added to the final version of the law, explicitly excluding these individuals.
On February 24, 2019, the Adalah Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed a petition against this amendment, arguing that it institutionalized discrimination by creating separate legal tracks for different categories of prisoners without any substantive justification. The petition claimed this violated principles of equality, liberty, and dignity, undermined the law's primary purpose of expanding living space for prisoners, and failed to meet the conditions outlined in the limitations clause. The petitioners contended that the decision to exclude security prisoners was influenced by irrelevant factors, including media pressure, diverging from the government's original position.
During the proceedings, the law (Amendment No. 57) was modified to impose restrictions on the administrative release of individuals convicted of serious violent offenses. As a result of these changes, the initial petition was ultimately rejected.
In July 2023, the law was further amended (Amendment No. 62), which entirely and unequivocally excluded security prisoners from eligibility for administrative release. This marked a significant departure from previous arrangements that allowed for conditional administrative releases for security prisoners.
On August 30, 2023, Adalah, the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed another petition against this latest amendment on behalf of two security prisoners, one of whom is a minor. Following a hearing on September 29, 2024, the court decided to dismiss the petition due to changing circumstances related to the outbreak of conflict and the impending expiration of the law's provisions.
HCJ 1406/19 Felony (minor) v. Knesset
Attorney: Rabia Agbaria (Adalah)
Petition (Hebrew)
The verdict, February 27, 2022 (Hebrew)
HCJ 6540/23 Felony v. Knesset
Attorney: Rabia Agbaria (Adalah)
Petition (Hebrew)
The verdict, September 29, 2024 (Hebrew)