Haifa District Court yesterday ruled in favor of the Ministry of Environment's appeal of a Haifa's Magistrate Court decision, and convicted the Israel Ports Development & Assets Company Ltd., which is responsible for developing infrastructure for all of Israel's ports, of dumping dredged material into the Mediterranean Sea against regulations during the construction of the Carmel Alef Port in 2008.
Judges Yosef Alron, Dr. Adi Zarankin, and Moshe Gilad ruled that Israel Ports must pay a fine of NIS 100,000 in damages.
Haifa District Court's overturning of the Magistrate's Court ruling not to convict Israel Ports, sets a precedent that the theoretical legal possibility for corporations to evade conviction is no longer legally available. The judges called for this fundamental issue to be formulated into a law.
The judges referred to the practice of erasing environment-related indictments against corporations and of their senior executives in plea bargains. The judges said that this practice harmed the public interest.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 25, 2011
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