Police Ordinance [New Version]

The court may permit the adduction of evidence in relation to facts that are in dispute.

[Upon the plea of the accused]

If the accused has pleaded not guilty, or is deemed under this Ordinance to have done so, the prosecution case shall be opened.

[Following the plea of not guilty by the accused]

[Following admission of facts]

Where there are several accused in a trial and some of them have pleaded guilty, the court may convict those whose plea has been accepted as referred to in Section 44 and impose sentence upon them immediately, or defer the conviction until the verdict has been given in respect of all the accused; however, if such an accused is called to testify at the trial, the court shall convict him and impose sentence upon him before he is called to testify.

[Plea of guilty by some of the accused]

408 Book of Laws 17 14 Adar 5731 11.03.1971

Severance of Trial

Where there are several accused in a trial, the court may, at any stage of the proceedings prior to verdict, order a separate trial for one or more of them, and continue with the trial of the remaining accused.

[the severance]

Where a court has ordered severance of a trial, the court constituted for the purpose of the separate trial may conduct it either on the basis of the original indictment or on the basis of a new indictment; if a new indictment has been filed, its date of filing shall be deemed to be the date on which the original indictment was filed with the court that decided to order a separate trial.

Once the prosecution case has been opened pursuant to Section 45, the prosecutor may bring before the court the prosecution witnesses — whether or not their names were included in the indictment — and the remainder of the prosecution evidence, and may, before calling witnesses, deliver an opening address for the prosecution case; however, where the name of a prosecution witness was not included in the indictment, the court shall, upon the application of the accused, adjourn the continuation of the hearing for a reasonable time.

[The defence]

If the accused has not been acquitted pursuant to Section 51, the President of the court shall explain to him that he is entitled, during the defence case, to do one of the following:

Following the address by the President of the court as referred to in Section 52, the accused or his defence counsel may bring before the court defence witnesses and other defence evidence; and may, before calling witnesses, deliver an opening address for the defence case.

[The court]

[on behalf of the prosecution]

409 Book of Laws 17 14 Adar 5731 11.03.1971

If the prosecution has adduced evidence pursuant to Section 55(a), the defence may adduce evidence to rebut the prosecution evidence so adduced, even if it has exercised its right under Section 54(b).

[The defence following additional evidence on behalf of the prosecution]

The court may exercise its power under Section 54 repeatedly at any time prior to verdict.

[to hear evidence on its own behalf]

The order for the taking of testimony shall be as follows:

In the examination of a witness, the court shall not permit any examination which in its opinion is irrelevant to the matter under consideration and is not fair; and in particular, the court shall not permit any examination that involves insult, intimidation, deception, or humiliation that are not relevant to the matter under consideration and are not fair.

Where there are several accused in a single trial, the order of examining witnesses shall be —

[Several accused]

If the court is of the opinion that the testimony of one of the accused is likely to be given against another accused, it may deviate from the order prescribed in Section 61 and permit that other accused or his defence counsel to examine him not by way of examination-in-chief but by way of cross-examination, after the other accused have examined him in examination-in-chief and before the prosecutor does so.

[In particular cases]

The court may permit the parties to adduce also such evidence as is required for the purpose of deliberating on a plea of objection to a judge or on a preliminary plea, and may likewise permit them to adduce evidence concerning anything said by the accused outside the court that has been submitted as evidence.

[The deliberation on the merits of the matter]

The court may refuse a request to summon a witness if it is of the opinion that the witness's testimony is not relevant to the matter under deliberation, or that the content of the testimony can be proved by other means.

[Summoning of witnesses]

410 Book of Laws 17 14 Adar 5731 11.03.1971

Amendment of the Charge

The court may, at any stage of the proceedings up to the verdict, amend the charge sheet by correcting or replacing it, as it sees fit.

[Trial on the new charge]

Where a charge sheet has been amended or replaced, the accused shall be deemed to have been arraigned on that charge sheet on the date on which he was arraigned under the original charge sheet.

[Amendment of the charge sheet]

The court may, without amending the charge sheet, convict an accused of an attempt to commit the offence with which he was charged, or of being an accessory after the fact, or of another offence arising from the same act, even if the accused was not so charged in the charge sheet, provided that the charge of which he was so convicted was proved by the evidence adduced before it in the course of the proceedings.

Upon conclusion of the case for the defence, the prosecutor, and thereafter the accused or his counsel, may present their summations.

After the summations, or if there were no summations — after the conclusion of the case for the defence, the court shall decide, by a reasoned written decision in accordance with Section 78, whether the accused is to be convicted or acquitted.

[The court]

The deliberation of the court shall be confidential and only the judges who sat in the proceedings shall participate therein.

In deliberation, the president of the court shall ask the opinions of the judges in order of their rank, beginning with the lowest rank; the president of the court shall express his opinion last.

Every judge shall vote on every question arising in the course of the court's deliberation that requires a decision.

A court shall decide by majority opinion; if there was no majority opinion as to the type or measure of punishment, a judge who proposed the most severe type or measure of punishment shall be deemed to have concurred in the opinion of the judge who proposed the opinion closest to his own.

The reasons for the decision of the court, and likewise the minority opinion if there was one, shall be set out in the decision, except for any detail that could prejudice the security of the State.

A decision of the court, including the judgment therein, shall be signed by all the judges; if the said decision contains a minority opinion, it shall be noted therein that it was given by majority opinion without disclosing the name of the holder of that minority opinion.

[Minority opinion to the parties]

The minority opinion is part of the record and the court shall bring it to the knowledge of the parties and shall read it together with the judgment; however, the court shall not disclose the name of the holder of that opinion.

[The judgment]

The reasons for the verdict shall set out the facts proved to the court and the considerations that led it to reach its decision; if the accused was convicted, the verdict shall also cite the provision of the enactment under which he was convicted, whether expressly or by reference to the charge sheet.

[The judgment]

The verdict shall be read in public and shall be marked with the date of the reading.

If the accused is acquitted, that determination shall constitute the judgment, and if the accused was in detention in respect of the charge on which he was tried he shall be released immediately, unless he was also detained in respect of another offence of which he was not acquitted.

411 Book of Laws 17 14 Adar 5731 11.03.1971

If the court has convicted the accused, the prosecutor shall bring to the knowledge of the court the accused's conduct sheet, if one exists, and the list of his prior convictions, and he may adduce evidence capable of influencing the determination of the measure of punishment; thereafter the accused may make a statement or give testimony and may also adduce evidence of facts and circumstances capable of mitigating the punishment.

[Measure of punishment]

Upon conclusion of the proceedings referred to in Section 81, the prosecutor, and thereafter the accused or his counsel, may present their summations regarding the measure of punishment; if counsel has summed up, the court shall allow the accused to have his last word.

[Measure of punishment]

The sentence of a convicted defendant shall be determined in the judgment, which shall be attached to the verdict, and both together shall constitute the Judgment; the sentence shall be read publicly and shall be marked with the date of its reading.

Where the trial was held in camera, the tribunal may determine that the reasons for the verdict or the sentence, in whole or in part, shall not be read publicly; however, in such case the Plaintiff and the defendant and his counsel shall be entitled to inspect them.

[Reasons]

Where the sentence required confirmation or the defendant was entitled to appeal against it, the tribunal shall notify the defendant and his counsel accordingly.

[Confirmation of Sentence and Right of Appeal]

In any matter of procedure for which no provision is made in this Schedule or in the Ordinance or in the Regulations made thereunder, the tribunal shall act in the manner that appears to it to be best for the doing of justice, provided that it gives reasons for its decision in this regard.

[Unforeseen]

The rules of evidence applicable in criminal matters in the courts of the State shall be binding upon the tribunal, except where this Schedule otherwise provides.

[General]

The tribunal shall not admit a confession of a defendant as evidence unless it is satisfied that it was given by the defendant of his own free will.

[As Evidence]

A statement of one defendant lawfully given before a person authorized to take testimony under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Evidence) 5, is not admissible as evidence against other defendants.

[Against Other Defendants]

A printed form of police orders and any printed form of any other publication issued by the Inspector General or on behalf of the Israel Police and certified by the Inspector General as an official publication for the purposes of this Section, containing an order, Order, instruction or appointment, shall serve as prima facie evidence of the issuance of the order, Order, instruction or appointment and of their contents.

[For Official Police Publications]

A document purporting to be signed by a police officer in the performance of his duty, and containing particulars regarding the matters listed below, shall serve as prima facie evidence thereof; and these are the matters:

5 Laws of Palestine, Vol. I, Chapter 34, p. 439.

[Police Documents as Evidence]

412 Book of Laws 17 14 Adar 5731 11.03.1971

[As Evidence of Arrest]

A document purporting to be signed by a police officer, attesting that a person was arrested or imprisoned on a certain day and at a certain place, shall serve as prima facie evidence thereof; however, the tribunal shall not admit such a document as evidence if the defendant has demanded that the signatory testify before the tribunal and the tribunal is of the opinion that for the purpose of doing justice it is desirable that the signatory so testify.

[Other Police Documents]

A printed form stating that it is one of the publications referred to in Section 91 and bearing a police emblem shall serve as prima facie evidence that it is such a publication.

A document made or certified by a police officer in the performance of his duty — a copy thereof, certified as a true copy under his signature or under the signature of the person responsible for the custody of the document, shall have the same legal force as the original document, and it shall be presumed to be a true copy; nothing in this Section shall deprive the defendant or his counsel of the right to inspect the original document pursuant to any law.

[The Tribunal]

Minutes of a tribunal signed by the President of the tribunal shall serve as conclusive evidence of the matters recorded therein, unless it is proved that the minutes were forged.

[To the Tribunal]

A party to proceedings before a tribunal who wishes to rely in the proceedings on a document admissible as evidence pursuant to the provisions of any law shall submit it to the tribunal.

413 Book of Laws 17 14 Adar 5731 11.03.1971

Where a defendant has been found guilty by a tribunal, the tribunal may Order that an instrument used by the offender in the commission of the offence be forfeited, even if the offender's ownership of the instrument has not been proved.

[Offence]

Where a defendant has been convicted by a tribunal of an offence relating to property not his own, and the property or