Biography
Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer is Vice President of Research at IDI, where he heads the projects "Constitutional Principles and Their Implementation," "National Security and Democracy," and "Arab-Jewish Relations." He is Professor Emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law and was Dean of the Faculty in 1990–1993. Prof. Kremnitzer has been a Senior Fellow at IDI Since 1994.
Born in Fürth, Germany, Prof. Kremnitzer studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, from which he received his PhD in 1980. He has published extensively in the fields of criminal, military, and public law, and is co-author of the proposal for a new general part of the penal code for Israel (a proposal which has been adopted by the Knesset). His books, in Hebrew, deal with judicial activism; Israel's Basic Law: The Army; the offence of sedition, libel, official secrets, revocation of citizenship, disqualification of parties and lists, targeted killings, offences against the state, the offence of breach of trust, and administrative detention.
Prof. Kremnitzer has advised the governments of Canada, Hungary and Finland on reform and legislation, and has been a visiting professor and researcher at The Max Planck Institute for comparative and international criminal law in Freiburg, Tulane University in the US, the Central European University in Budapest, McGill University in Montreal, and the institute for advanced studied of Berlin. He has served as chairman of many public committees, including a committee nominated by the Minister of Police on the use of force by the police (1994); a committee appointed by the Minister of Education on Education Towards Good Citizenship (1996); and a committee nominated by the Minster of Finance and the Minister of Justice to examine methods to deal with offences and misconduct of public employees (1998). He is also a member of the German Council of Science and Humanities and the scientific advisory board of the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Freiburg, Germany.
Prof. Kremnitzer was appointed chairperson of the Israeli Association of Public Law in 2002. He served as President of the Israeli Press Council (2000–2003) and as the academic head of the Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University (2001–2003).
In 2007, Prof. Kremnitzer was appointed by the Minister of Justice to Chair the Committee to Reform the Law on Homicide. The committee submitted its recommendations in August, 2011.
Awards and Distinctions:
- The Pinchas Rozen award for legal research (1989)
- The "Knight of Quality Government" of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel (1999)
- The honor of lighting a torch at the ceremony opening Israeli Independence Day at Mount Herzl (1999).
- The Zeltner Prize for excellence in research (2003)
- The Humboldt Research Award (2009)
- The "Ometz Award" given by Citizens for Good Governance and Social Justice (2009)
- Honorary doctorate from the University of Lucerne (2009)
- Honorary Fellow, The Open University (2010)
Tel: 02-530-0883
email: motak@idi.org.il
Select Publications
Books in English
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with K. Ghanayim, Incitement, Not Sedition, The Sedition de lege lata and de lege ferenda, The Israel Democracy Institute, 2002
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with S. Goldman, E. Tamir, Religious Feelings and Freedom of Expression in Criminal Law, Position Paper published by the Israel Democracy Institute in, 2003
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with K. Ghanayim and B. Shnoor, The Law of Libel, de lege lata and de lege ferenda, Sacker Institute for Comparative Research of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Democracy Institute, 2005
Articles in English
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Grounds for Disqualifying a Judge," 18 Israel Law Review 449, 1983
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Proportionality and the Psychotic Aggressor – Another View," 18 Israel Law Review 178, 1983
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "The Punishability of Impossible Attempts," 19 Israel Law Review 340, 1984
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with M. Gur-Arye, "Penal Responsibility for Offences of Omission," 55 Rev. Int. De Droit Penal, 691 (p.698-703), 1984
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with S. Z. Feller, "Withdrawal from Attempt- Report to the 12th Congress on Comparative Law," Israel Reports to the Xii International Congress of Comparative Law 354, Jerusalem, 1986
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Interpretation in Criminal Law," 21 Israel Law Review 358, 1986
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Intention and Mens Rea," in Issues in Contemporary Legal Philosophy 277, R. Gavison ed., Oxford, 1987
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Capital Punishment – an Israeli Perspective," 58 Revue International De Droit Penal 475, 1987
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "The General Security Services Pardon: A Test of the High Court of Justice," 8 Tel-Aviv University Studies 157, 1988
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "The Landau Commission Report – Was the Security Service Subordinated to the Law, or the Law to the “Needs” of the Security?," 23 Israel Law Review 216, 1989
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Is There a Rational Justification for Punishing an Accomplished Crime More Severely than an Attempted Crime?," Brigham Young U. Journal of Public Law 81, 1990
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Forty Years of Criminal Law – Further Comment," 24 Israel Law Review 580, 1990
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Free Speech and Criminal Code Provisions for the Protection of State Security: The Israel Case," in Free Speech and National Security 86 (S. Shetreet ed., Dordrecht, 1991
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Sentencing as Art – a Response: Sentencing as a Just System," 25 Israel Law Review 661, 1991
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "The World Community as an International Legislator in Competition with National Legislators," in Principles And Procedures for a New Transnational Criminal Law 337 (A Eser and O. Lagodny eds., Freiburg, 1991)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "The Israeli Proposal for a New General Part of a Penal Code – an Introduction," in Criminal Law Theory In Transition 57 (R. Lahti and K. Nuotio eds., Helsinki, 1992)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Constitutional Principles and Criminal Law," 27 Israel Law Review 84, 1993
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "National Security and the Rule of Law," in National Security and Democracy in Israel 153 (A. Yaniv ed., Boulder CO, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1993)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Demjanjuk Case," 24 Israel Yearbook on Human Rights 269 (Yoram Dinstein and Mala Tabory eds., Faculty of Law of Tel Aviv University, 1995)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "The Chapter on Criminal Law," in Introduction to the Law Of Israel 253 (A. Shapira ed., Kluwer, 1995)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with Sneor Zalman Feller, "Proposal for a General Part of a New Penal Law – Introduction," 30 Israel Law Review 36, 1996
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with Shachar Goldman, "Israel’s Direct Election," 14 Justice 3, 1997
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "On Premeditation," Buffalo Criminal Law Review 627, 1998
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Israeli Criminal Law," chapter in Crime And The Criminal Justice System In Israel: Assessing The Knowledge Base Towards the 21st Century (R. Friedman ed., Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press,1998)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "The Use of Legislation to Change Social Perceptions," in Women in Law (S. Shetreet ed., London, Kluwer, 1998)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Constitutionalization of Substantive Criminal Law: A Realistic View," 33 Israel Law Review 720, 1999
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with S. Reem, "The Legality of Interrogational Torture: A question of proper authorization or a substantive moral issue?," 34 Israel Law Review 509 (2000)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "The High Court of Justice and the Shaping of Public Policy – Equality and Gender," 7 Israel Affairs 100, 2001
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with G. Ben Shachar and M. Bar-Hilel, "Trial by Polygraph – Reconsidering the Use of GKT in Court," 26 Law and Human Behaviour 527, 2002
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Disqualification of Lists and Parties: The Israeli Case," in Militant Democracy 157 (Utrecht, A Sajo, ed., Eleven – International Publishing, 2004)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with Khalid Ghanayim, "Proportionality and the Aggressor’s Culpability in Self Defense," 39 Tulsa Law Review 875, 2004
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with M. Cohn, "Judicial Activism: a Multidimensional Model," 18 Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 333, 2005
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with M. Cohn, "Prosecution of International Crimes – Israel," in National Prosecution of International Crimes, Vol. 5, 317 (A. Eser, U. Sieber, H. Kreicker, eds., Berlin, 2005, Duncker & Humblot)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "New Humanistic Trends in Israeli Criminal Law," in Menschengerechtes Strafrecht – Festschrift fuer Albin Eser zum 70 Geburtstag 513 (Arnold and others, eds., Muenchen, Verlag C. H. Beck, 2005)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Targeted Killing Policy: Insufficiently Limited," 44 Justice 38, 2007
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with D. Menashe and K. Ghanayim, "The Use of Force by the Police," The Criminal Law Quarterly 67, 2007
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "The Criminal Law – Is its Hand all Over?," in The Daniel Book - Festschrift in Honor of Professor Daniel Friedman 935 (N. Cohen, O. Grosskopf eds., 2008)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Is the Subjective Mental Element Superfluous," in 27 Criminal Justice Ethics 78, 2008
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with Liat Levanon-Morag, "A Comment on Preventative Means in General and on Torture in Particular," 42 (2) Israel Law Review 248, 2010
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "A Possible Case for Imposing Criminal Liability on Corporations in International Criminal Law," Journal of International Criminal Justice 909, 2010
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Some Reflections on Comparative Criminal Law- Keynote Speech," in Strafrechtsvergleichung Als Problem Und Lösung 29 (Susanne Beck, Christoph Burchard, Bijan Fateh-Moghadam eds., (Nomos Verlagsgesellschaf Baden-Baden, 2010 or 2011), Forthcoming
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with Gershon. Ben-Shakhar, Verschuere, B., Ben-Shakhar, G., & Meijer, E., "The CIT in the Courtroom: Legal Aspects," in Memory Detection: Theory and Application of the Concealed Information Test (Cambridge University Press), Forthcoming
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "A moral analysis of the Goldstone Report and its aftermath," Justice Magazine, 2010-2011
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Coercive Interrogation in Israel – The process of shaping the norms Gerechtigkeit und Gesellschaft, M. Mahlmann" (ed.), (Nomos, Baden-Baden, 2011), Forthcoming
Books in Hebrew
Mordechai Kremnitzer, Principles of Structure and System of the Specific Offences, Doctoral dissertation: Jerusalem, 1980, p. 345
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with A. Bendor, Basic Law: The Army – a Commentary, The Sacher Institute, 2000
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with R. Gavison and Y. Dotan, The Role of the High Court of Justice, Magnes Press, 2002
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with O. Ben Shachar, S. Goldman, Freedom of Occupation, Position Paper 11, Israel Democracy Institute, 1998
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with Y. Ezrahi, Israel Towards a Constitutional Democracy: Principles for Reform of State and Regime, The Israel Democracy Institute, 2001
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with D. Kretzmer and A. Benish, The Basic Laws as a Basis for a Constitution, The Israeli Democracy Institute, 2002
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with Dr. M. Cohn and E. Linder, Religion and the High Court of Justice – Image and Reality, Israel Democracy Institute, Position Paper No. 39, 2003
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with E. Rachaf, Official Secrets: A proposal to amend the penal prohibitions, Israel Democracy Institute, Position Paper No. 56, 2005
Mordechai Kremnitzer, Disqualification of Lists of Candidates to Knesset Elections, Israel Democracy Institute, Position Paper No. 59, 2005
Mordechai Kremnitzer, Are All Actions Acceptable in the Face of Terror?, Israel Democracy Institute, Position Paper, No. 60, 2005
Mordechai Kremnitzer, Incitement, Not Sedition, The Sedition de lege lata and de lege ferenda, together with K. Ghanayim: The Israel Democracy Institute, 2002
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with David Enoch, Iddo Porat, Re'em Segev, Collateral Damage - The Harming of Innocents in the War Against Terror, The Israel Democracy Institute, 2008
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with Khalid Ghanayim, Offenses Against the State, The Israel Democracy Institute, 2008
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with Doron Navot, Nava Ben-Or, Amir Fuchs and Guy Wertheim, Fraud and Breach of Trust, The Israel Democracy Institute, 2008
Mordechai Kremnitzer, Criminal Fraud, Nevo Press, 2009
Articles in German
Mordechai Kremnitzer, assisted by Alon Harel, "Schwangerschaftsabbruch in Israel," in Schwangerschafts-Abbruch Im Internationalen Vergleich (Baden-Baden, Hrsg. A. Eser & H-G Koch, 1989)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with K. Ghanayim, "H-H Jescheck & T. Weigend: Lehrbuch des Strafrechts, Allgemeiner Teil," 34 Israel Law Review 302, 2000
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Praventives Toeten," in Rechtfragen Der Terrorismusbekaempfung Durch Streitkraefte 201 (D. Fleck ed., Baden Baden, Nomos Verlag, 2004)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Strafbarkeit juristischen Personen aus angelsaechsicher und israelischer Sicht," in Schriften zum Strafrecht, Krise Des Strafrechts Und Der Kriminalwissenchaften 215 (Berlin, 2001)
Mordechai Kremnitzer, with K. Ghanayim, "Die Strafbarkeit von Unternehmen," 113 Zstw 539, 2001
Book Reviews
Mordechai Kremnitzer, “Muting Israeli democracy: How media and cultural policy undermine free expression,” 153, 5 Misgarot Media, 2010