The Israeli Independent Public - Abstract of the Inquiry Report - December 2021

right to presence and accompaniment, and the right to express an opinion, there is a wide gap between the law and their actual experiences . This gap is also the subject of the Berliner Committee report. Consequently, the Independent Public Inquiry recommends implementing victims’ rights in the law enforcement systems, specifically: 1. The right to information: supposedly, in cases where an attorney is appointed to represent the victim, there should be no issue with accessing information. However, even in these cases the attorney does not always receive records of court sessions; attorneys do not receive notifications on the postponement of sessions, and their presence at sessions is not strictly observed. When the victim is not represented, their situation becomes much more difficult. “The process should maybe be made clearer. I don’t know whether my parents had information and they concealed it from me, but as a kid I didn’t know what was going on with that security guard, whether he had been punished. I didn’t really understand the process. But I was 11… I guess they kept it secret from me on purpose.” 2. The right to dignity: it is vital to ensure that victims of child sexual abuse are not harmed by any party in these systems, particularly during cross-examination. It must be recognized that offensive and disparaging remarks, such as calling a girl on the witness stand a “temptress,” are unacceptable. 3. Participation and representation: today, the law allows providing legal assistance to victims of serious sexual offences from the moment a bill of indictment has been filed (a memorandum of law has recently been submitted proposing that eligibility for assistance be expanded so it begins at the moment a complaint is filed). However, unfortunately, to this day there is no inalienable right to representation for a crime victim, despite the fact that the State Attorney’s Office does not claim to represent the victim and their interests, but rather the public interest. The Berliner Committee recommended that a social worker be appointed

The Israeli Independent Public Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

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