Defence (Emergency) Regulations
Encyclopedia
The Defence Regulations are an expansive set of regulations that were first enacted by the Mandatory authorities in British Mandate Palestine on 27 September 1945. Incorporated into Israel
's domestic legislation after the state's establishment in 1948, the regulations remain in force to this day.
According to Israeli human rights group B'Tselem
, provisions in the regulations permit the establishment of military tribunal
s to try civilians without the right to appeal, prohibitions on the publication of books and newspapers, house demolition
s, indefinite administrative detention
, extensive powers of search and seizure
, the sealing off of territories and the imposition of curfew
s.
authorized the British High Commissioner in Palestine to enact such defence regulations "as appear to him in his unfettered discretion to be necessary or expedient for securing public safety, the defence of Palestine, the maintenance of public order and the suppression of mutiny, rebellion, and riot and for maintaining supplies and services essential to the life of the community." In his book, The Jewish State, Alan Dowty writes that the regulations subsequently issued reflected the preoccupations of a colonial power (i.e. Britain) facing widespread unrest and the threat of war.
With the growing prospect of rebellion from the Jewish Resistance Movement
, the Mandatory authorities published the collected set of regulations, along with new measures to restrict illegal immigration in September 1945. The Defence (Emergency) Regulations comprised 147 regulations spanning forty-one pages that effectively established a regime of martial law
.
A military court system was empowered to try those who violated the regulations with no right to habeas corpus
or appeal. Broad powers of search and seizure were granted to British
soldiers. The regulations also permit long-term detention without trial and the deportation of even native-born citizens. Permits are required for the publication of any material of "political significance." Any area can be closed and the civil courts suspended therein. Property can be expropriated or destroyed, movement restricted, mail opened, services suspended, or businesses closed and the military is not even required to publish orders that it intends to enforce.
The Jewish population in Palestine vigorously protested the Defence Regulations after they were first issued. Richard Crossman
, a member of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry
who heard such complaints in early 1946 reflected on the regulations in his diary, and concluded that, "Palestine today is a police state." Bernard (Dov) Joseph
, who later became the Israeli Minister of Justice, also used the term "police state" to describe the Defence Regulations.
There has been significant debate in Israel surrounding the Defence Regulations. While most of the provisions incorporated into Israeli legislation have never been invoked by the executive branch, a few have been and continue to be repeatedly invoked, "precipitating public and legal debates concerning the appropriate balance between security considerations and democratic premises." (See Application section below for more.)
After a debate on the administrative detention provision in 1951, the Knesset
plenum directed the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee to draft a bill to repeal the regulations on the basis that they opposed basic democratic principles. The recommendation was not followed through and the regulations were not abolished. B'tselem
submits that repeal was not possible since the regulations served as the legal basis for the military rule that was in effect for Arab citizens of Israel
.
After military rule ended in 1966, the Ministry of Justice established a committee charged with examining and proposing amendments to the regulations that would lead to their partial repeal; however, the outbreak of the Six-Day War
in June of 1967 brought the committee's work to an end.
After the war, the Israel
i military governor in the territories occupied in 1967
immediately issued a military order "freezing" the legal situation there. The Israeli government argues that the Defence Regulations were part of the domestic law in these territories prior to occupation. To underline this position, Regional Commanders in the West Bank
and in the Gaza Strip
issued orders on explicitly outlining the validity of the Defence Regulations there.
The provisions that apply to publishing houses and published materials allow for the summary closure of publications and restrictions on distribution. The military censor
can prevent the publication not only of sensitive security material, but anything that is deemed prejudicial to public order.
The Defence Regulations have been and are used extensively in the occupied territories and serve as the legal foundation for the demolition of homes
, the deportation of residents, the administrative detention of thousands of people, and the imposition of closures and curfews on Palestinian
towns and villages.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's domestic legislation after the state's establishment in 1948, the regulations remain in force to this day.
According to Israeli human rights group B'Tselem
B'Tselem
B'Tselem is an Israeli non-governmental organization . It calls itself "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories"...
, provisions in the regulations permit the establishment of military tribunal
Military tribunal
A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings. The judges are military officers and fulfill the role of jurors...
s to try civilians without the right to appeal, prohibitions on the publication of books and newspapers, house demolition
House demolition
House demolition is primarily a military tactic which has been used in many conflicts for a variety of purposes. It has been employed as a scorched earth tactic to deprive an advancing enemy of food and shelter, or to wreck an enemy's economy and infrastructure. It has also been used for purposes...
s, indefinite administrative detention
Administrative detention
Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial, usually for security reasons. A large number of countries, both democratic and undemocratic, resort to administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism, control illegal immigration, or to protect the...
, extensive powers of search and seizure
Search and seizure
Search and seizure is a legal procedure used in many civil law and common law legal systems whereby police or other authorities and their agents, who suspect that a crime has been committed, do a search of a person's property and confiscate any relevant evidence to the crime.Some countries have...
, the sealing off of territories and the imposition of curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
s.
British Mandate
The 1945 Defence (Emergency) Regulations compiled old and new orders issued by the Mandatory authorities following the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. In 1937, the Privy Council in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
authorized the British High Commissioner in Palestine to enact such defence regulations "as appear to him in his unfettered discretion to be necessary or expedient for securing public safety, the defence of Palestine, the maintenance of public order and the suppression of mutiny, rebellion, and riot and for maintaining supplies and services essential to the life of the community." In his book, The Jewish State, Alan Dowty writes that the regulations subsequently issued reflected the preoccupations of a colonial power (i.e. Britain) facing widespread unrest and the threat of war.
With the growing prospect of rebellion from the Jewish Resistance Movement
Jewish Resistance Movement
The Jewish Resistance Movement , sometimes called United Resistance Movement , was an umbrella group for Jewish Resistance movements in the British Mandate of Palestine...
, the Mandatory authorities published the collected set of regulations, along with new measures to restrict illegal immigration in September 1945. The Defence (Emergency) Regulations comprised 147 regulations spanning forty-one pages that effectively established a regime of martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
.
A military court system was empowered to try those who violated the regulations with no right to habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
or appeal. Broad powers of search and seizure were granted to British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
soldiers. The regulations also permit long-term detention without trial and the deportation of even native-born citizens. Permits are required for the publication of any material of "political significance." Any area can be closed and the civil courts suspended therein. Property can be expropriated or destroyed, movement restricted, mail opened, services suspended, or businesses closed and the military is not even required to publish orders that it intends to enforce.
The Jewish population in Palestine vigorously protested the Defence Regulations after they were first issued. Richard Crossman
Richard Crossman
Richard Howard Stafford Crossman OBE was a British author and Labour Party politician who was a Cabinet Minister under Harold Wilson, and was the editor of the New Statesman. A prominent socialist intellectual, he became one of the Labour Party's leading Zionists and anti-communists...
, a member of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry
Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry
The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry was a joint British and American attempt in 1946 to agree upon a policy as regards the admission of Jews to Palestine. The Committee was tasked to consult representative Arabs and Jews on the problems of Palestine, and to make other recommendations 'as may be...
who heard such complaints in early 1946 reflected on the regulations in his diary, and concluded that, "Palestine today is a police state." Bernard (Dov) Joseph
Dov Yosef
Dov Yosef was an Israeli politician and statesman. Yosef served in a variety of ministerial positions during the first two Knessets and was the country's second Minister of Justice, serving twice .-Background:...
, who later became the Israeli Minister of Justice, also used the term "police state" to describe the Defence Regulations.
Israeli law
The Defence (Emergency) Regulations were incorporated into Israeli domestic law pursuant to section 11 of the Government and Law Arrangements Ordinance in 1948. An addendum to the law noted that exceptions could arise from "changes resulting from establishment of the State or its authorities." Only the section restricting immigration was cancelled at the time of the law's adoption into domestic Israeli law; the remaining regulations remain in effect except where explicitly annulled or superseded by either actions of the cabinet (under Section 9 of the Law and Administration Ordinance) or by Knesset legislation.There has been significant debate in Israel surrounding the Defence Regulations. While most of the provisions incorporated into Israeli legislation have never been invoked by the executive branch, a few have been and continue to be repeatedly invoked, "precipitating public and legal debates concerning the appropriate balance between security considerations and democratic premises." (See Application section below for more.)
After a debate on the administrative detention provision in 1951, the Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
plenum directed the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee to draft a bill to repeal the regulations on the basis that they opposed basic democratic principles. The recommendation was not followed through and the regulations were not abolished. B'tselem
B'Tselem
B'Tselem is an Israeli non-governmental organization . It calls itself "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories"...
submits that repeal was not possible since the regulations served as the legal basis for the military rule that was in effect for Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel refers to citizens of Israel who are not Jewish, and whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab....
.
After military rule ended in 1966, the Ministry of Justice established a committee charged with examining and proposing amendments to the regulations that would lead to their partial repeal; however, the outbreak of the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
in June of 1967 brought the committee's work to an end.
After the war, the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i military governor in the territories occupied in 1967
Israeli-occupied territories
The Israeli-occupied territories are the territories which have been designated as occupied territory by the United Nations and other international organizations, governments and others to refer to the territory seized by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967 from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria...
immediately issued a military order "freezing" the legal situation there. The Israeli government argues that the Defence Regulations were part of the domestic law in these territories prior to occupation. To underline this position, Regional Commanders in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
and in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
issued orders on explicitly outlining the validity of the Defence Regulations there.
Application
Provisions that have been repeatedly invoked by the Israeli authorities are Defence Regulations 86 - 101 which deal with censorship, Defence Regulations 109 - 112 which address restriction, detention, and deportation, and Defence Regulation 125 which concerns closed areas. The context in which they have been invoked is inextricably linked to the Arab-Israeli conflict and has had an impact upon relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel. These provisions of the Defence Regulations are generally invoked much less frequently within Israel itself today than was the case in the past.The provisions that apply to publishing houses and published materials allow for the summary closure of publications and restrictions on distribution. The military censor
Israeli Military Censor
The Israeli Military Censor is a unit in the IDF Directorate of Military Intelligence which watches over the publication of information regarding the military network, and generally, the security of Israel. The Military Censor, as part of its duty, has authority to suppress information it deems...
can prevent the publication not only of sensitive security material, but anything that is deemed prejudicial to public order.
The Defence Regulations have been and are used extensively in the occupied territories and serve as the legal foundation for the demolition of homes
House demolition in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
House demolition is a controversial tactic used by the Israeli Defence Forces and Israeli settlers in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip against Palestinians....
, the deportation of residents, the administrative detention of thousands of people, and the imposition of closures and curfews on Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
towns and villages.