There are discrepancies between the services offered to Arabs and Jews at the Justice Ministry's legal aid bureau, a new study by Sikkuy - The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel concludes. An absence of forms in Arabic and a shortage of Arabic-speaking staff are among some of the gaps noted in the research.

The ministry's legal assistance bureau offers help, for a nominal fee, to those unable to procure legal counsel privately. It provides service to an estimated 50,000 people each year.

In 2009, the department handled 180,000 cases through five district offices and their annexes.

Requests for legal assistance are made through the social services departments within local authorities or through civil society organizations, who are responsible for informing the population about the service and helping applicants complete the necessary paperwork.

A social worker in an Arab community handles, on average, more than 500 such clients per year, while a Jewish social worker deals with 335 cases per year. As such, social services departments face greater limitations in providing legal assistance to Arab citizens, as compared to similar services offered in Jewish communities.

No native Arabic speakers

Having native Arabic speakers as staff members is essential if the available services are to be translated. Sikkuy found most district offices, however, hardly employ any clerks or lawyers who speak Arabic. At the legal aid office in the Central District, which is located in Tel Aviv, there is one Arab attorney out of a staff of 25. This bureau services the needs of the entire population in central Israel, including Arab and mixed communities, like Kafr Qasem, Tira, Taibeh, Lod, Ramle, Jaffa and Lod.

In the country's north, one district bureau is situated in Nazareth. Sikkuy's study revealed that while the office dispatches attorneys to seven Jewish communities, Sakhnin is the only Arab community in the north - an area of the country heavily populated by Arabs - serviced by lawyers from the Nazareth bureau.

"The research findings reflect the harsh realities in which government services are not available to Arab citizens in an equitable way by comparison to Jews," said Ron Gerlitz, co-director of Sikkuy.

"We know these conclusions apply in even worse ways in other government services," he continued. "It is unacceptable that Arab citizens are not offered services in their language, which is also one of Israel's official languages. Equality for all citizens and equitable handling on the part of the administration are expected to be cornerstones of Israeli democracy."

The Justice Ministry said in response that about 15 percent of legal assistance bureau staff members are Arabs and that, in practice, an Arab citizen who asks for legal assistance but does not speak Hebrew is offered services in Arabic.

Moreover the ministry says Arab speakers are sent a letter in Arabic explaining the content of substantive documents and their rights to legal counsel. As for the distribution of available legal counsel, the ministry says decisions were made primarily on the basis of communities' size and location.