הוועד הציבורי נגד עינויים בישראל

On 4 January 2008, an expanded High Court of Justice panel  consisting of 9  Justices and presided over by Chief Justice Dorit Beinich,  held a hearing on the constitutionality of the Criminal Procedure (Detainees Suspected of Security Offenses) Law.  This followed the petition submitted in March 2008 by The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Adalah which demanded that the court annul the law, which blatantly violates the basic rights of detainees suspected of committing security offenses.
During the hearing, which lasted for approximately five hours the justices criticized various aspects of the law which allow persons suspected of committing security offenses to be held for 21 days with no judicial oversight, except for one appearance before a Judge, and that only after 96 hours of detention and interrogation, to have their detention extended in their absence, and not to be given information on the extension of their detention.
The state argued that it has secret materials that provide explanations for why such a law is necessary and motioned to present these materials to the court ex parte, in the absence of the petitioners. The petitioners opposed this, arguing that the materials in question relate to the central question of the constitutionality of the law, and that the purpose of the law, especially this law of this kind which the state also admits violates detainee’s rights, must be made public.
No decision was made concerning additional hearings.