"Knesset Members Immunity, Rights and Duties Law" of

Transcription

1 "Knesset Members Immunity, Rights and Duties Law" of Granting of immunity and lifting of immunity 20 (Amendments no. 12, 14, 17, 19 and 33) (c1) (f) The Knesset may, by its decision, determine that a Member of Knesset shall have immunity from criminal law with regard to the charge in the indictment as stated in sec. 4 and that he will not be tried on that charge while he is a Member of Knesset, and also to lift another immunity or right 21 granted him under this law, with the exception of the immunity or right granted to him pursuant to Sec. 1; but the Knesset shall not make such decision except on the proposal of the House Committee following a request that has been brought before the Committee 22. The Attorney General shall be permitted to submit a request in the matter of lifting immunity from a Member of Knesset that has been granted pursuant to sec. 2 or 3; the government or any member of Knesset shall be permitted to submit a request in the matter of lifting a right granted to a Member of Knesset under this law. A request pursuant to this section or pursuant to Sec. 4(3) is to be submitted in writing and accompanied by grounds to the Chairman of the Knesset, who will pass it on to the House Committee to be discussed at the earliest possible opportunity. If the House Committee decides not to propose granting a Member of Knesset immunity from charges under criminal law as stated in Sec. 4, or to deny a request to lift his immunity or right, this decision shall be final. The House Committee shall not propose, and the Knesset shall not decide, to lift a Member s immunity or right, or to determine that he shall have immunity from charges under criminal law, until after said Member of Knesset and the Attorney General have had the opportunity to be heard. 23 The Knesset shall not deliberate and shall not decide on the lifting of immunity or a right or on the granting of immunity against charges under criminal law unless it has notified all Members of the Knesset 24 at lest twenty four hours in advance of the debate and the vote. The Knesset s decision regarding the lifting of immunity or a right or the granting of immunity against charges under criminal law shall be done by open ballot. (g) (1) If a request has been submitted to lift immunity or a right from a Member of Knesset, and the Member of Knesset has informed the Chairman of the Knesset and the Chairman of the House Committee in writing, before the Knesset s debate has been concluded, that he agrees to the lifting of the immunity or the right, as requested, the House Committee may, by decision, lift the immunity or the right from the Member of Knesset; in this matter the House Committee shall have the authorities granted the Knesset in sub-section ; the Chairman of the House Committee shall notify the Knesset of this decision pursuant to this sub-section and the lifting of the immunity or the right shall become effective at the time the notice is given to the Knesset. (2) If the House Committee has proposed to the Knesset to lift the immunity or the right or a Member of Knesset, and that Member of Knesset has informed the Chairman of the

2 Knesset and the Chairman of the House Committee in writing that he agrees to the lifting of the immunity or the right, the Chairman of the Knesset shall inform the Knesset of this and the lifting of the immunity or the right shall become effective when the notice is given to the Knesset; if the debate on the lifting of the immunity or the right has begun the debate shall be halted when the notice is given. 13a. Prohibition on additional occupation 25 (Amendments no. 5, 7, 15, 16, 20 and 34) 13a1 A Member of Knesset shall not engage in any business or in any additional occupation, other than unpaid voluntary work; for this purpose engage whether for himself or in partnership with another, including employee or proxy; additional occupation (1) an occupation that is in addition to his occupation as a Member of Knesset, including a one-time occupation, representation of another person, consulting or carrying out lobbying activities for that person; (2) serving as head of a local authority or as chairman of a government authority, corporation or institution; compensation pecuniary compensation or other material compensation; material compensation including making available an office and office services to a Member of Knesset for his personal needs, including making available a car to a Member of Knesset, whether for his personal needs or for the needs of his voluntary unpaid occupation. A Member of Knesset shall not engage in any business or in any additional occupation, including an occupation that is permitted under sub-section, even without compensation, if the occupation includes any of the following: (1) violation of the Knesset s dignity, of his status or duties as a Member of Knesset; (2) the possible misuse or attainment of a personal advantage or preferences from his being a Member of Knesset; (3) a possible conflict of interests between this additional work and his role as a Member of Knesset; (4) legal representation of a party in legal proceedings in which one of the parties to the case is the State. The following shall not be considered engaging in business or an additional occupation- (1) ownership alone of shares in a corporation; (2) the receipt of income from property by a Member of Knesset or a family member; (3) membership in a kibbutz; for this purpose, kibbutz including a moshav and any cooperative group for settlement the revenues of which are not in principle distributed to its members; (4) the receipt of income from a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work. Work within the context of the faction or the party as long as the Member of Knesset does not receive a salary for such work; but the Member of Knesset is permitted to receive an office, office services, a car and a driver 26 from the faction or from the party for the purposes of such work. This paragraph shall not apply for the first six month of a Member s service, providing that he did not service as a Member of Knesset immediately before. Prohibition against serving as an elected member of a public body 27 (Amendments no. 15, 20 and 34)

3 A Member of Knesset shall not serve as an elected member of a public body, even without compensation; one who serves as an elected member of a public body shall have his membership lapse on the date he becomes a Member of Knesset. In this section public body a body from among those listed in the appendix. 13b Statement of assets (Amendment no. 18) A member of Knesset or one who has ceased being a Member of Knesset shall submit a statement of assets as set forth in the Ethics Rules for Members of Knesset. 13c [repealed Amendment no. 7] 13d Ethics Committee (Amendments 5, 7, 11, 15, 18, 21, 22, 26, 28 and 32) A Member of Knesset who has done one of the following shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Ethics Committee of Members of Knesset: (1) Violated the provisions of Sec. 13a or 13a1 or has not fulfilled one of the provisions pursuant to them; (1a) Has not submitted a statement of assets, or submitted it late, in violation of the provisions of Sec. 13b and the Ethics Rules for Members of Knesset. (2) Has been absent from Knesset sessions without a reasonable explanation for a continuous period of two months or more, not counting recess days; or for one third or more of all the days that the Knesset was in any session, but (1) if he is a Deputy Minister, two-fifths or more of all the days in session as stated, (2) if he is a Minister one half or more of all the days in session as stated; (3) Has violated one of the ethics rules (1)The Ethics Committee shall be composed of four Members of Knesset to be appointed by the Chairman of the Knesset for the term of office of that Knesset, taking into account, among other things, the factional make-up of the Knesset, with two of them being members of the coalition factions and two of them members of the opposition factions; the Chairman of the Knesset shall appoint the chairman of the Ethics Committee from among its members. (2) Restrictions on the appointment of a Member of Knesset as a member of the Ethics Committee and provisions concerning his suspension from membership in the Committee or his transfer from such office shall be set forth in the House Rules of the Knesset. (3) In this sub-section coalition factions the factions in the Knesset that are parties to agreements obligating them to support the government; opposition factions the factions in the Knesset that are not parties to agreements obligating them to support the government. The Ethics Committee (1) shall set for itself its own rules of procedure and debate; (2) shall not be bound by the rules of evidence and shall work in the manner that it deems most efficacious to deal with the complaints brought before it;

4 (3) shall be permitted, on its own initiative or upon request by a Member of Knesset, to write an opinion in matters of ethics. (d1) (e1) (f) (g) If the Ethics Committee, by a majority vote of all its members, has determined that a Member of Knesset has violated the provisions of sub-section (1), (1a), or (2), it is permitted to impose one of the following on him: (1) a note (2) a warning (3) a reprimand (3a) a severe reprimand (3b) denial of his right to speak in a plenary session or in committees of the Knesset, all of some of them, for a period that shall not exceed ten days in session; (3c) limitations on his work as a Member of Knesset, including a prohibition on proposing new laws, agenda items, interpellations and the like, and excluding limitations on the right to vote, to be determined by the Committee and for the period of time determined by it, providing said period does not exceed the period remaining for the term of that Knesset; (4) removal from plenary sessions of the Knesset and its committees for a period not to exceed six months, providing that the Member of Knesset be permitted to enter a session only for the purposes of voting; (5) loss of salary and other payments for the period of absence as stated in sub-section (2) or loss of salary and other payments for a period not to exceed one year for each violation of another provision of Section 13a; for this purpose, other payments payments pursuant to Section 9 of the Knesset Act of , and payments pursuant to the Government Office Holders Pension Act of If the Ethics Committee has determined by a majority vote of all its members that a Member of Knesset has violated one of the provisions of sub-section (3), it may exercise its authority pursuant to sub-section, with the exception of the authority pursuant to sub-section (5). [repealed] If the Ethics Committee has exercised its authority pursuant to the provisions of subsection or (d1) against a Member of Knesset, and the Member has continued to violate the provisions of sub-section, the Committee may again deliberate on his matter, and exercise its authority under this section, providing it has given him notice thereof in advance, by registered mail. In addition to that stated in sub-section (1) to (3a), or in place of them, the Ethics Committee may publish the decision, either in whole or in part, mentioning the name of the Member of Knesset or not mentioning it; if the Committee has decided as stated in sub-section (3b) to (5) it shall publish the decision with mention of the Member s name. The provisions of this section shall also apply to anyone who has ceased to be a Member of Knesset, but with respect to sub-section (1a), it shall be left to the discretion of the Ethics Committee who has ceased to be a Member of Knesset, if less than one year has passed from the time at which he was required to submit a statement of assets.

5 13e Ethics rules (Amendments no. 5, 18, 26 and 32) The House Committee may provide ethics rules for the Members of Knesset; ethics rules that have been set by the House Committee before the effective date of the Knesset Members Immunity, Rights and Duties Law of (Amendment no. 5), , shall be considered as if set by application of this section, as long as they do not contradict that stated in sections 13a to 13d. In the ethics rules, the House Committee may provide, among other things, that the Ethics Committee for Members of Knesset shall have the authority over someone who has ceased to be a Member of Knesset, providing that the complaint was lodged against him at a time when he was a Member of Knesset and the Committee believes that a discussion of the complaint is a public matter. 14. Prohibitions 28 (Amendment no. 19) A Member of Knesset, Minister and Deputy Minister is prohibited from using his title in any act that is tied to his business or profession. One who has been a Member of Knesset, Prime Minister, Minister or Deputy Minister is prohibited, after the end of his term of office from mentioning, in writing, in any matter that is tied to his business or profession, the fact that he was a Member of Knesset, Prime Minister, Minister or Deputy Minister. One who has been a Prime Minister or Minister is prohibited, for a period of three years from the end of his term of office as Prime Minister or Minister, from being a member of the board of directors of a company or corporation that have received a concession from the government during his term of office. One who has been a Deputy Minister is prohibited, for a period of three years from the end of his term of office as a Deputy Minister, from being a member of the board of directors of a company or corporation that have received a concession from the government during his term of office through the ministry in which he served as Deputy Minister. Anyone violating one of the provisions of this section is subject to imprisonment of up to two years or a maximum fine of three thousand lira or both of these penalties simultaneously. 14a. Prohibition against benefit from individual allocation (Amendment no. 9) A Member of Knesset shall not serve in an administrative position 29, whether salaried or not, in an institute, a company, a foundation or any other body that receives, whether directly or indirectly, an individual allocation. A Member of Knesset shall not receive money, money equivalents, service or benefits from a body that receives, directly or indirectly, an individual allocation, except for services or benefits that are given to all.

6 The provisions of this section shall also apply to a family member of the Member of Knesset, or of a Minister who is not a Member of Knesset; for these purposes, family member spouse, sibling or child. Anyone violating the provisions of this section is subject to a fine; any person convicted under this section may be sentenced by the court to pay to the government treasury any sum he received or the cash equivalent of any service or benefit. For the purposes of this section individual allocation allocation to a body that is not a government institution, that is mentioned by name in the budget act, and that constitutes more than one-fourth of that body s budget. (f) The provisions of this section are supplementary to the provisions of any other law and shall not detract from them.