Let’s Talk About Regulation 116A

Dr. Adam Shinar, from the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center’s law school, sheds a light on the stealthy practice of human rights erasure in Israel through bureaucracy – using regulations.
Earlier this week Haaretz published his piece, describing the formation of one regulation – regulation 116A. This regulation pulls the rug under the feet of Palestinian, asylum seeking and migrant workers whose rights have been violated by their employers – and who attempt to claim their stolen rights in court. He writes:
“Human rights are harmed not just by media-captivating laws. Many times, the harm is conducted in bureaucratic tools, that their use, even if known to the public, raise a public yawn at best.
We can find a good example in the high court of justice’s ruling frim two weeks ago, in which a petition made by Adalah – The Legal Center For Arab Minority Rights In Israel, Kav Laoved and האגודה לזכויות האזרח בישראל in order to repeal regulation 116A to the labor court regulation (legal proceedings), 1991 – was rejected. The regulation, which was passed by the minister of justice, Ayelet Shaked, concerns a deposit made by the plaintiff in labor-related lawsuits. It dictates, among other things, that in cases where the plaintiff is not an Israeli resident, the court will order a financial guarantee to be made if asked so by the respondent, unless the plaintiff had shown ‘a beginning of an evidence for the proof of the plaintiff’s claim’.
Everyone who reads the regulation might receive the impression that it is a mere technicality. And indeed, it’s an important achievement for the minister of justice: procedures formally formulated in a way that reveals nothing of the potential harm to human rights inherent in them.
It is easy to focus on laws such as the nation-state law and the west bank Settlement Regulation Law and the way they benefit Jews over non-Jews. However, a basic law is not needed for this. A simple regulation that concerns technical matter such as guarantees deposit can base Israeli supremacy (meaning Jewish supremacy, since what is Israel if not a Jewish state?) over those who are governed by Israel without being given the option to participate in their governing bodies. Human rights were meant, among other things, to protect minorities from the majority’s power. From now on, even if these minorities want to enforce their legal rights, they would have to pay more.”