A/HRC/38/15 9. The Director General of the Ministry of Justice presented Israel’s recent major developments in the field of human rights. She elaborated on some of the functions offered by the Ministry, including the provision of free legal representation in criminal proceedings by the Public Defender’s Office, and the provision of free legal aid by the Legal Aid Administration in civil and administrative proceedings, noting that the provision of free legal aid had been expanded to include victims of sexual offences. She also touched upon the enhancement of access to justice through community courts. Furthermore, she addressed a groundbreaking Supreme Court decision that required the State to provide larger prison cells for inmates. 10. The Director General highlighted various human rights supervisory mechanisms and institutions in the Ministry of Justice designed to oversee the handling of complaints or reports of torture, ill-treatment or disproportionate use of force, particularly with regard to the role played by the Office of the Inspector for Complaints against Israel Security Agency Interrogators, which had been transferred to the Ministry of Justice in 2014; the recent installation of cameras in all Israel Security Agency interrogation rooms, which broadcast interrogations in real time to Ministry of Justice supervisors; plans for the implementation of a similar, real-time broadcasting system for police investigations; and the Department for Investigation of Police Officers, which addressed similar complaints regarding police misconduct. She also described the review mechanisms of the Israel Defence Forces, which ensured compliance with the rule of law. 11. The Director General noted the interministerial committees that she headed, including the committee for eradicating racism against persons of Ethiopian origin, the committee for examining criminalization of the use of prostitution services and the committee to counter the negative ramifications of polygamy. 12. Elaborating on the strong commitment of Israel to upholding human rights, the Director General highlighted the advancement of women’s rights, noting the appointment of the first female qadi in a Muslim religious court. She also noted the advancement of freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, including the recent cancellation of the Press Ordinance, which paved the way for allowing any person the right to print, publish or distribute a newspaper. Additionally, with reference to the right to work, she described new programmes designed to improve the integration of minorities in the workforce, and elaborated on how those programmes had led the way for increased minority representation at the Ministry of Justice. 13. The Director General described the active and vibrant role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Israel, and their constructive discourse with the Government, as well as the Attorney General’s strong support for such dialogue, which had been conveyed in a letter circulated to all legal advisers in the various government ministries — while stressing the need to verify information received from certain NGOs. She also noted a joint project with NGOs that was focused on enhancing NGO participation in the reporting process for the United Nations human rights committees, and described the six round-table discussions held between the Government, civil society and academics prior to the current universal periodic review session. B. Interactive dialogue and responses by the State under review 14. During the interactive dialogue, 78 delegations made statements. Recommendations made during the dialogue are to be found in section II of the present report. 15. Jordan expressed concern at violations of the rights of the Palestinian people and attempts to prejudice the identity of occupied Jerusalem. 16. Libya highlighted the lack of cooperation with the international commission of inquiry on the 2014 Gaza conflict. 17. Madagascar welcomed legal measures to address the gender wage gap but was concerned by the excessive use of force by the security forces. 3