Creating Legislative Management Interface (IL0041)

What is the current situation or problem that the commitment addresses?

Currently, there is a “black hole” that lies between the stage at which a digital memorandum is circulated by a government ministry and the stage at which a government bill is placed before the Knesset ahead of its first reading. The process of distributing memoranda of laws is managed by the government, in the internal system of the memoranda of laws website and is presented to the public on the government legislation website (where government legislative initiatives, drafts of secondary legislation and are presented). The bills are presented in the National Legislation Database only after they are presented for a first reading. The public is not presented with information about the memorandum at the stage following its circulation on the government legislation website. There is however no connection between the memorandum circulated and the bill that is finally placed before the Knesset. Thus, it is difficult to know whether the legislative process in the Knesset has commenced with regard to a particular government memorandum, and it is difficult to locate the text of the memorandum as it was circulated, and the public comments received regarding a bill or law originating in a government memorandum. Users have to search for the information on both sites – the government legislative website and the National Legislation Database, without there being a common thread between the memorandum and the subsequent bill. In addition, passing of secondary legislative initiatives that require Knesset involvement are transmitted from government ministries to the Knesset by email, without their process in the government or the Knesset being presented to the general public.

What is the commitment?

Optimization Creating an interface between the government and the Knesset to ensure that every government bill placed before the Knesset table will be linked to the memorandum of law that the government circulated for public comment on the “Government Legislation Website.” Presentation of bills in the National Legislation Database will enable comments from the public on the memorandum and their presentation on the database’s website. The goal is to present the public with a full picture of the legislative process, which encompasses the government steps prior to the Knesset and up to presentation before the Knesset.of the reporting process and supervision and analysis of data: The interface for managing government legislation in the internal system of the Knesset will make it possible to submit inquiries from government ministries to the Knesset about proposals to initiate secondary legislation by the government. Passing secondary legislation requires the involvement of the Knesset. Procedures required by law, such as obtaining the consent or consultation of ministers in formulating versions of secondary legislation will be conducted within the internal government system – these include the agreement or consultation of ministers in formulating the drafts of secondary legislation and information on their implementation will be transferred to the Knesset. At the same time, the Knesset will act to promote the presentation of the legislative process for secondary legislation, which requires Knesset approval in order to enact it, in such a way that the process in the Knesset will be presented to the public.

How will the commitment address the problem?

The Ministry of Justice and the Knesset will work to create a mutual interface for the transfer of information between them. This will create a precise digital link in the legislative process of government bills, from the stage they are initiated by the government initiation and continuing through the legislative process in the Knesset, and the same will apply to secondary legislation whose legislative process requires Knesset approval.

Why is the commitment relevant to OGP?

The commitment is relevant to the OGP because it increases transparency regarding government legislative initiatives through the presentation of information regarding their passage through the Knesset and the commencement of the legislative process. In addition, the commitment will make it possible to locate information on bills that are going through legislative process, and to locate the wording of memoranda and public comments in relation to the memoranda on the government legislation website. The commitment will lead to the information on the process of passing secondary legislation, which until now has not been exposed to the public at the stage of passage through the Knesset, will be presented to the public in such a way that information about all the stages of legislation and relevant documents will be open to public scrutiny.

How does the commitment contribute to inclusion and equality?

Some of the bills and secondary legislation also deal with inclusion and equality, and therefore increasing transparency and information about the legislative process of government initiatives is useful in this area as well.

Additional information

The project is being promoted in cooperation with the Justice Ministry’s data and technology department and legal advice and legislative affairs department, and the Knesset Computerization and Technology Department

Milestone with deliverable | Start date - End date

Formulating a joint requirements document for the creation of the interface between the government initiation of a legislation process and the legislative process in the Knesset and formulating a technological solution to achieve this. | May 2023 - November 2023

Development of an interface to submit information about government bills and to conducts checks | January 2024 - August 2024

Launch of Justice Ministry-Knesset interface | October 2024 - December 2025

Formulation of a joint requirements document transfer of information about secondary legislation | July 2023 - December 2023

Commencement of work on developing a secondary legislation interface and conducting checks | April 2024 - November 2024

Launch of Justice Ministry-Knesset secondary legislation interface | End of December 2024 - December 2025