An amendment to the Israel court proceedings law, providing special arrangements for the trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann, passed its third and final reading today in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, by a vote of 39 to 16, and became law. The trial opens March 15.
During the third reading, a clause was added reviving the special British Mandatory law providing for implementation of death sentences by hanging. Capital punishment was abolished when Israel was proclaimed, except for wartime treason and Nazi crimes. However, there has been no death sentence passed since the Jewish State was created and there was, therefore, no provision in Israeli law for implementation of such a sentence, even for exceptional cases.
Other clauses in the amendment provide that district courts trying capital offenses must be headed by a Supreme Court judge and set up special technical arrangements in the courtroom for security purposes.
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