Penal Law, 5737-1977

Where a law is amenable to several reasonable interpretations according to its purpose, the matter shall be decided in accordance with the interpretation most lenient to the person who is to bear criminal liability under that law.

In the absence of a contrary provision in the law, the provisions of the Preliminary Part and the General Part shall apply also to offences not under this Law.

For the purposes of an offence —

"dwelling" means a building or structure, or part thereof, held by its owner or occupant for the purpose of residence, for himself or for his family or his employee, even if it is at times uninhabited; and for this purpose a building or structure adjoining the dwelling, or occupied together with it or serving a particular need of it, shall also be regarded as part of the dwelling, provided there is a connection between them, whether physically attached or by way of an enclosed and covered passage leading from one to the other;

"owner" and similar terms, in relation to property, include a corporation, a body of persons capable of holding property, and the State;

"public way" means a road, market, square, street, bridge and any way along which the public lawfully passes;

"possession" means a person's control over a thing that is in his own hands, in another's hands or in any place whatsoever, whether or not that place belongs to him; and a thing that is in the hands or possession of one or more members of a group with the knowledge and consent of the others shall be regarded as being in the hands and possession of each of them and of all of them together;

"judicial proceeding" means any proceeding before a court, tribunal, judicial authority, commission of inquiry or a person authorised to administer oaths to witnesses;

"hurt" means bodily pain, disease or bodily impairment, whether permanent or transient;

"grievous hurt" means hurt that amounts to dangerous hurt, or that injures or is liable to injure seriously or permanently the health or comfort of the person hurt, or that amounts to permanent disfigurement or permanent injury or serious injury to any organ, membrane or external or internal sense;

"dangerous hurt" means hurt that is life-threatening;

"computer material", "computer" — as defined in the Computers Law, 5755-1995;

"law" includes an Act of the British Parliament or an Order in Council, or part thereof, or regulations made thereunder, as in force in the State;

"knowledge", in relation to any expression denoting supply or use, means knowledge of the nature of the thing supplied or used;

"money" includes a banknote, a bank draft, a cheque and any other instrument for the payment of money;

"night" means from 18:30 until 06:30;

"public place" means a road, building, place or means of transport to which the public has at that time a right or permission of access, unconditionally or on condition of payment, and any building or place serving at that time for a public or religious assembly or as a court sitting in public;

"supply", of a thing, includes using or doing with it, attempting to use or do with it, or attempting to induce a person to use or do with it or to act upon it;

"security" includes a document evidencing a right or a claim to an asset;

"property" means anything animate or inanimate capable of being the subject of ownership;

"public servant" —

"public", in relation to an act —

"wound" means a cut or stab that severs or pierces any external membrane of the body, and for this purpose an external membrane is any membrane that can be touched without severing or piercing any membrane;

"publication" means writing, printed matter, computer material or any other visual display, as well as any auditory medium capable of conveying words or ideas, whether alone or with the aid of any means whatsoever;

"published" —

"public" includes any part thereof that is liable to be harmed by the conduct to which reference is made in the context of that term.

"minor" means a person who has not yet attained the age of 18 years.

Where the law prescribes imprisonment only, or prescribes imprisonment or a fine in the alternative, the court may impose imprisonment or a fine or both; however, where the law prescribes mandatory imprisonment, the court shall not impose a fine only.

In respect of an offence prescribed by law before the 19th of Elul 5714 (17 September 1954) for which no punishment has been prescribed, the court may impose —

The purpose of this Section is to prescribe the guiding principles and considerations in sentencing, the weight to be accorded to them and the relationship between them, so that the court shall determine the appropriate punishment for the accused in the circumstances of the offence.

The guiding principle in sentencing is the existence of a fitting relationship between the gravity of the act of the offence in its circumstances and the degree of culpability of the accused, on the one hand, and the type and degree of the punishment imposed upon him, on the other hand (in this Section — the guiding principle).

Where the court has determined the proportionate punishment range in accordance with the guiding principle and has found that there is a real concern that the accused will reoffend, and that a more severe punishment and his removal from the public are required in order to protect public safety, it may deviate from the proportionate punishment range, provided that the punishment determined shall not constitute a significant aggravation beyond the proportionate punishment range; the court shall not so determine unless it has found that the accused has a significant criminal record or unless a professional opinion has been presented to it.

Where the court has found that there is a need to deter the accused from committing a further offence, and that there is a real prospect that the imposition of a particular punishment will bring about his deterrence, it may take this consideration into account when determining the punishment of the accused, provided that the punishment does not exceed the proportionate punishment range.

Where the court has found that there is a need to deter the public from committing an offence of the type committed by the accused, and that there is a real prospect that aggravating the punishment of the accused will bring about general deterrence, it may take this consideration into account when determining the punishment of the accused, provided that the punishment does not exceed the proportionate punishment range.

Where the court has determined that the proportionate punishment range includes a punishment of a fine, it shall take into account, in addition to the provisions of section 40c(a), the financial circumstances of the accused, for the purpose of determining the proportionate fine punishment range.

In imposing the punishment appropriate to the accused as referred to in section 40c(b), the court may take into account the existence of the circumstances not connected with the commission of the offence, as set out below, and the degree to which they existed, insofar as it considered it appropriate to accord them weight in the circumstances of the case, provided that the punishment does not exceed the proportionate punishment range:

Nothing in the provisions of sections 40i and 40k shall derogate from the power of the court to consider additional circumstances connected with the commission of the offence for the purpose of determining the proportionate punishment range, and also additional circumstances not connected with the commission of the offence for the purpose of imposing the punishment appropriate to the accused.

The court shall detail and give reasons in the sentence, inter alia, for the following: