PRELIMINARY DRAFT
2017-03-11 Human Right Alert's 2017 State of Israel UPR Appendix to Submission
Widespread corruption of the courts, the legal profession and law enforcement: Unannounced regime change?
An era, in which computer code is law, and e-government is large scale fraud on the people.
The Human Rights Alert submission is primarily focused on documenting corruption of the courts and the role of IT systems as the instruments of such conduct. The HRA submission for the 2013 UPR, which was primarily based analysis and data mining of new IT system of the courts, was incorporated into the Professional Staff Report with the note: “Lack of integrity in the electronic record systems of the Supreme Court, the district courts and the detainees' courts in Israel.”
The current Submission and its Appendix expand such IT system review to additional courts (magistrate, family, small claims, debtors’), provide a more detailed review of the legal framework, which permitted such transformation of the courts, including the new Regulation of the Courts – Office of the Clerk (2004), the Electronic Signature Act (2001), modification of the Shin-Bet Act (1998) and Shin-Bet charges pursuant to the Security Administration Act (1998), and finally - the recent establishment of the National Cyber Bureau by the Prime Minister “by his own permission” (as described by media). The outcome is widespread lack of integrity and/or fraud in IT systems, which are critical/vital for “institutions and process of a democratic regime”.
The fundamentals of administration of Courts of Record are thoroughly undermined: a) The clerks of the courts are no longer charged with the safeguard of court records and process; b) Judges routinely maintain double and triple decision dockets; c) There is no longer reliable entry and maintenance of judgments records, even in a life imprisonment case, and d) With the implementation of “detached” undetectable e-signatures, the validity of judicial records is vague and ambiguous and judges often issue false and misleading, sham/simulated decisions and judgments. Prevailing conditions were summed up by a “senior legal scholar” as “a total jungle in the courts”...
A series of case studies, which were largely missing in the previous report, is provided, first and foremost is the notorious murder conviction of Roman Zadorov, where another leading legal scholar opined - “the justice system is primarily defending itself”. Other case studies originate in government corruption, whistle- blowers' and social protest activists' persecution.
Prevailing conditions amount to large-scale deprivation of of Human Rights under the color of law by the justice system itself. Israel should be deemed in violation of any article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, where integrity of the courts and a competent justice system are a prerequisite. Likewise, Israel should be deemed in violation of the the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR] (1966), and the Hague Apostille Convention (1961).
Online Submission
For ease of review, section and figure numbers were kept consistent between the Submission and the Appendix.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
A. Human Rights Alert-NGO B. Allegations
C. Evidence
1. The legal and institutional changes
2. The Supreme Court
3. District, magistrate, family and small claims courts
4. Detainees’ courts
5. Debtors’ courts
6. Administration of Courts, Ombudsman of the Judiciary, State Ombudsman
7. Attorney General, State Attorney, Commissioner of Prosecutorial Oversight
8. The Legal Profession and Israel Bar Association
9. Police and law enforcement
10. The Knesset (legislature)
11. Central Election Committee
12. Shin-Bet (secret service) and the National Cyber Bureau
13. Repression of social protest
14. Persecution of whistle-blowers
15. Media
16. Civil Society organizations, legal and computer science experts
16. Compliance with relevant State laws
17. Compliance with relevant treaties and conventions
18. Responses by National Authorities
D. Conclusions E. Recommendations
F. Attachments LINKS
A. Human Rights Alert-NGO
Three HRA submissions, which are probably the first ever in their analysis e-government and its effects on Human Rights, have so far been incorporated into UN HRC UPR reports:
The United States (2010), with the note: “Corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California”;
The State of Israel (2013) with the note: “Lack of integrity in the electronic records of the supreme court, the district courts and the detainees courts in Israel”, and
The United States (2015) with the note: “HRA NGO recommended restoring the integrity of the IT systems of the courts, under accountability to the Congress, with the goal of making such systems as transparent as possible to the public at large.”
A textbook on "Machine Learning" found Dr Zernik's application of data-mining to Human Rights research among "Notable uses", and summarized it as follows:
Data mining of government records - particularly records of the justice system (i.e., courts, prisons) - enables the discovery of systemic human rights violations in connection to generation and publication of invalid or fraudulent legal records by various government agencies.
A series of peer-reviewed academic publications on relevant subjects by Joseph Zernik, PhD, the primary author of instant submission, is provided in the Appendix.
Conditions, now prevailing in the the national courts of the State of Israel, amount to violation of any article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, where integrity of the courts and the justice system is a prerequisite. Such violations undermine the rule of law. Likewise, prevailing conditions violate international treaties and conventions, to which the State of Israel is a party, including, but not limited to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR] (1966), and the Hague Apostille Convention (1961). Conditions, which have been established over the past decade in the courts should be deemed a simulated justice system and widespread abuse of the people. Judges, attorneys and senior law enforcement officers were placed above the law, unaccountable even when caught in patent criminality.
Human Rights Alert’s (NGO) Submission is narrowly focused on analysis of the electronic record systems in national courts (Supreme
Court, district courts, detainees courts), in particular, public access to court records and integrity of the records, which are made accessible to the public.
The analysis uses methods inspired by data-mining and zero-knowledge proofs; on consultations with Israeli law and computing experts, and on attempts
to obtain relevant public information or solicit investigation/corrective actions by relevant national agencies.
D. Conclusions
The evidence holds serious implications relative to compliance with Human Rights, international law, treaties and conventions, as well as local socioeconomic conditions, banking regulation, and more:
1. The validity and integrity of any legal records, originating in the State of Israel should be deemed dubious;
2. Conditions in Israel should be deemed a constitutional crisis in a nation with no constitution, or an unannounced regime change - the purported “Constitutional Revolution” advertised by the Supreme Court should be deemed a charade, and
3. The unreasonable concentration of power by security, legal and corporate groups is likely to frustrate any corrective efforts in the foreseeable future.
Special efforts should focus on restoring and maintaining the integrity of e-government:
1. Israeli informatics and legal experts should assume a more central role in examining and repairing e-government systems in all branches of government, first and foremost in the courts and prisons;
2. Until integrity is restored, general elections should be conducted by paper and international observers should be invited, and
3. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission may be called for addressing conduct of the judiciary and the legal profession.
Conditions in Israel provide a unique case study and a warning regarding the risks, inherent in unchecked implementation of e-government systems.
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