Information Center

This information is for initial orientation about the service and contact process. It is not individual legal advice.

A Criminal Hearing – The Last Opportunity to Prevent an Indictment

Section 60Aleph of the Criminal Procedure Law requires the prosecuting authorities to inform a suspect in a felony offense of the intention to file an indictment against him, and to allow him to argue why it should not be filed.

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An Indictment – What It Means and How to Deal With It

Has an indictment been filed against you? From this moment, you are no longer a "suspect" — you are a "defendant," and the State of Israel is officially claiming that you committed a criminal offense and that it has evidence to prove it.

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A Criminal Appeal – Convicted or Given a Harsh Sentence? This Is Not the End of the Road

Every defendant has one appeal as of right: a judgment of the Magistrate's Court is appealed to the District Court, and a judgment of the District Court to the Supreme Court.

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Changing the Grounds for Closure – How to Erase a Police Record

A criminal case that did not mature into an indictment is closed on one of three grounds, and the difference between them is enormous: lack of guilt, the determination that the suspect did not commit what was attributed to him; the police record is deleted entirely.

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Expunging a Criminal Record – How to Turn Over a New Leaf

The Criminal Information Law and Rehabilitation of Offenders Regulation govern the criminal registry and the police registry.

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A Pardon Request to the President of Israel – The Complete Guide

Basic Law: The President of the State grants the President the authority to pardon offenders, reduce their punishment, or commute it to another punishment, and the Criminal Information Law and Rehabilitation of Offenders Law adds to this the authority to shorten the limitation and deletion periods of a criminal record.

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A Conditional Arrangement – Sign or Not? Everything You Must Know First

Received a phone call or a letter from the police or the District Attorney inviting you to sign a conditional arrangement? Stop for a moment before you rush to sign. A conditional arrangement does spare you an indictment and a trial – but…

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A Notice Letter to a Suspect – Received a Letter From the District Attorney? Here Is How to Act

Have you found a letter in your mailbox from the State Attorney's Office or the police prosecution notifying you that further handling of your case has been transferred to the Israel Police prosecution or the State Attorney's Office? Or a letter stating that an indictment against you is being considered? This is a "notice to a suspect," and it marks the opening of a window of opportunity.

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Giving Testimony to the Police – Summoned "Just to Testify"? Read This First

Received a call from the police inviting you to give testimony? Many breathe a sigh of relief – "I am only a witness, not a suspect" – and arrive at the station unprepared. That is exactly the mistake the police count on. The line…

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Extortion by Threats – What the Penalty Is and How to Respond

Extortion by threats is one of the most serious offenses in Israeli criminal law, included in the chapter on fraud, extortion, and exploitation offenses.

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Sexual Harassment at Work – Suspect, Employer or Victim? What You Need to Know

A relationship of authority is one in which one party holds power, authority, or influence over the other: an employer and an employee, a commander and a soldier, a lecturer and a student, a therapist and a patient, or a rabbi and a believer.

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Questioning Under Caution – What It Means and What Your Rights Are

Have you been told that you are being questioned under caution? This is neither a formality nor empty legal wording.

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Police questioning – the complete guide for interviewees

Summoned by the police? Understand your status, your rights, questioning tactics and how legal preparation can help.

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The Right to Remain Silent – When It Protects You and When It May Harm You

The right to remain silent is one of a suspect's fundamental rights in criminal proceedings, but also one of the least understood.

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A Search of Your Home – What the Police May Do and What Your Rights Are

Police officers at the door asking to come in and search are a confusing and stressful moment. It is precisely in those minutes that questions which will follow the entire case are settled: whether the search was lawful, what was seized, and what was documented.…

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Seizure of a Phone and Computer – What May Be Done With Your Material

The seizure of a mobile phone or a computer is one of the most intrusive actions in the criminal process. A single device holds correspondence, photographs, locations and personal connections – and the question of what is permitted…

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Remand Detention – What It Is, How Long It Lasts, and How to Fight It

Investigative detention is detention for the purposes of an investigation before an indictment is filed.

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Detention Until the End of Proceedings – How to Fight the Motion

When an indictment is filed, the prosecution may request that the defendant remain detained until the end of the trial.

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Alternatives to Detention – How to Build One the Court Will Approve

The Arrests Law expressly provides that a person must not be detained if the purpose of detention can be achieved by a means that infringes less on their liberty.

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Checking the Status of an Investigation – How to Find Out Where Your Case Stands

An investigation that ends with no further word is one of the most exhausting experiences in criminal proceedings.

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A Phone Summons to Questioning – What to Do on the First Call

A phone call from the police asking you to attend questioning almost always comes as a surprise.

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A Restraining Order – How to Respond to a Request and How to File One

Someone who is threatened or harmed can apply for one of three types of orders: a protection order under the Prevention of Family Violence Law, when the perpetrator is a family member, excluding them from the home even if they own it and prohibiting harassment and carrying weapons; an order to prevent threatening harassment under the Prevention Law.

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An Order Preventing Threatening Harassment – When It Is Granted and What It Means

Section 2 of the Prevention of Threatening Harassment Law, Hatashsab-2001, defines threatening harassment as harassing a person in any way or making threats against them in circumstances providing reasonable grounds to believe that the harasser may again harm their peace of mind, privacy, liberty, or body.

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Canceling a Bench Warrant – What to Do When One Is Issued Against You

A warrant to compel attendance is intended to secure appearance in judicial proceedings. Checking the warrant's type, validity, and conditions makes it possible to consider an application to cancel it or arrange attendance before it is executed.

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Release on Bail – How It Works and What Determines the Conditions

Release on bail allows a person to continue their life while proceedings are ongoing, subject to an undertaking to comply with conditions.

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House Arrest – Conditions, Supervision and Requests for Relief

The Arrests Law expressly provides that a person must not be detained if the purpose of detention can be achieved by a means that infringes less on their liberty.

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Closing a Criminal Case – How It Happens and What It Means

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Grounds for Closing a Case – The Difference That Shapes Everything After

A closed case does not appear on a certificate of good conduct, but it is retained in the internal police register and is accessible to certain bodies under the law.

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Appealing the Closure of a Case – When You Disagree With the Decision

When a complainant appeals a decision to close a case, the person whose case was closed may find themselves facing criminal proceedings again.

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A Stay of Proceedings – When the Attorney General Halts a Case

A stay of proceedings is an exceptional power by which a criminal proceeding already under way is halted. It is neither an acquittal nor an ordinary closure of a case, but a decision that the proceeding will not continue at this stage.…

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Dismissing an Indictment – When It Is Possible and How It Is Done

Has an indictment been filed against you? The proceedings are only beginning, and before a single piece of evidence is heard, the defense has tools to challenge the indictment itself.

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Preliminary Pleas – The Opportunity That Opens Only Once

Has an indictment been filed against you? The proceedings are only beginning, and before a single piece of evidence is heard, the defense has tools to challenge the indictment itself.

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Abuse of Process – When the Proceeding Itself Is Not Fair

The abuse-of-process defense, now enshrined in Section 149(10) of the Criminal Procedure Law, allows the court to dismiss an indictment or remedy procedural defects when the prosecution or conduct of the proceedings fundamentally conflicts with principles of justice and legal fairness.

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A Plea Bargain – Advantages, Risks and When It Is Worth It

A plea agreement is an agreement between the prosecution and the defense in which the defendant admits agreed facts, usually amended and narrowed, and in return the charges and sentencing position are agreed: a fixed sentence, a sentencing range, or freedom to argue subject to a ceiling.

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Criminal mediation in court: the procedure's objectives and the meaning of agreements

Criminal mediation in court allows the prosecution and defense to explore agreements with the assistance of a mediating judge. The process can help formulate a plea agreement or narrow the issues in dispute, but does not guarantee closure of the case or avoidance of a conviction.

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A Private Criminal Complaint – When the State Does Not Press Charges

A private criminal complaint under Section 68 of the Criminal Procedure Law allows a private individual to conduct criminal proceedings against someone who harmed them, without the State.

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Defense Arguments in a Criminal Trial – How a Defense Is Built

A criminal defense is not a series of denials. It is a structure: identifying exactly what the prosecution must prove, locating the weak links in the chain, and building a consistent account that holds up throughout…

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The Probation Service Report – Why It Carries So Much Weight

The court usually refers the defendant for a Probation Service report.

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Sentencing in Criminal Proceedings – What to Expect and How to Influence the Outcome

The criminal proceeding consists of two stages.

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Canceling a Police Record – What Is Erased and What Remains

Before submitting an application, you must know exactly what exists: which cases, on what grounds, and their status.

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A Certificate of Good Conduct – What It Shows and How to Obtain It

A criminal information certificate, sometimes called a certificate of good conduct, is intended to present information to foreign authorities and is forwarded through police and consular channels to the requested destination.

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A Firearms License – How a Criminal Record Affects It and What Can Be Done

Not every citizen is eligible to hold a private firearm.

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Information Center — Questions and Answers

Which topics are covered in the information center?

The guides cover police investigations, detention, pre-indictment hearings, indictments, appeals, case closure, criminal records, and other topics. Each guide focuses on a particular issue.

Do the guides replace legal advice?

No. They provide an initial introduction only. A decision in a particular case requires examination of the facts and the law applicable at the relevant time.

Can I assume that all the information remains current?

According to the terms of use, the firm strives to keep information current, but legislation and case law change. Before making a decision, the position should be checked through individualized advice.

What should I do about an urgent matter or an approaching deadline?

Contact the firm directly by telephone at 052-8675433. Reading a guide or submitting a website inquiry does not suspend a legal deadline or guarantee a response within a particular time.

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