Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue

The Community Court, which has been operating in Israel in recent years, offers criminal defendants an innovative procedure of rehabilitation in the community as a substitute for imprisonment. The three episodes of the documentary series were produced for Kan 11, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation. They intimately follow six of the procedure participants, and share with viewers their failures and successes. The series documents the complex challenge that its protagonists experience precisely from the moment the justice system reaches out to them and offers the unexpected: to indulge in a comprehensive rehabilitative process in exchange for the inevitable abolition of imprisonment. The camera reveals the heart of the legal-therapeutic process: for the first time in Israel, it is allowed to enter the courtroom and document at eye level the drama in which defendants, lawyers and welfare officials are involved.