Constitutional Aspects of the Criminal Process - Dr. Assaf Porat

The study program is based on frontal lectures, performed by Dr. Assaf Porat and guest speakers, as well as reading materials (usually uploaded to the course's website), Documentaries, Media coverage and films.

We will critically discuss a number of constitutional issues in criminal proceedings in Israel, including the presumption of innocence, the right to due process, the concept of reasonable doubt, false confessions, law and the media, victims of crime, abuse of process, retrial and parole, ect.

The course provides an observation of the unobserved side of the legal system, offering a rather critical point of view regarding the criminal law, by attempting to arouse sympathy toward the weak "players" of the criminal trial - the defendant and the victim.