Administrative Law Commons^™

Miller V. Minister Of Defence, Eliahu Mazza, Dalia Dorner, Tova Strasberg-Cohen, Yaakov Kedmi, Tzevi Eliyahu Tal

Translated Opinions

Facts: The petitioner asked the army to assign her to the air force for training as a pilot. The army refused, since it was established policy not to train women as pilots. The army’s reasoning was based on the length of service: by law, men are obliged to serve until the age of 54, whereas women are only obliged to serve until the age of 38, and they are exempt if they are pregnant or have children. Consequently, the army argued, the huge investment involved in training a pilot could not be justified for women, and planning for the deployment …

Attorney General V. National Labour Court, Dov Levin, Mishael Cheshin, Tzevi Eliyahu Tal

Translated Opinions

Facts: The second petitioner, the Bezeq Corporation, had a monopoly in the field of providing telephone services in Israel. When the Government decided to allow competition in this field, the General Federation of Labour feared that the restriction of the monopoly would affect the jobs and rights of Bezeq’s employees, and it therefore gave notice of a strike. The petitioners applied to the Regional Labour Court for an injunction against the strike. The injunction was given, but the National Labour Court overturned it on appeal. The petitioners then petitioned the High Court of Justice to set aside the judgment of …

Israel Women’S Network V. Government Of Israel, Eliahu Mazza, Itzchak Zamir, Yaakov Kedmi

Translated Opinions

Facts: In 1993, the Government Corporations Law was amended, and s. 18A was added. This section provides that the boards of directors of Government corporations shall have equal representation of men and women, and until such time as this goal is achieved, members of the underrepresented sex should be appointed, ‘to the extent that circumstances allow’ (affirmative action).

After the new section came into effect, and despite the new section, men were appointed in two cases by Government ministers to boards of directors of Government corporations, on which there were no women directors.

The petitioner argued that the appointments were …

Dayan V. Wilk, Aharon Barak, Shlomo Levin, Eliezer Goldberg

Translated Opinions

Facts: The petitioner applied for a permit to hold an assembly directly outside the home of Rabbi Ovadya Yosef, spiritual leader of the Shas political party. The District Commissioner of Police refused the permit, because it would violate the rights of privacy of the rabbi, his family and his neighbours.

Held: It is necessary to balance the petitioner’s right to freedom of assembly against the right of privacy of the public figure, his family and his neighbours. According to Vice-President Barak, these rights are of equal importance: in principle there is a right to hold an assembly outside the private …

The Movement For Quality In Government V. State Of Israel, Meir Shamgar, Aharon Barak, Eliahu Mazza, Dov Levin, Eliezer Goldberg

Translated Opinions

These petitions concern the continued tenure in office of the fourth respondent as a Minister in the Government, after he was charged with accepting a bribe, breach of trust on the part of a public servant, obtaining something by deceit under aggravating circumstances, false entry in corporate documents and stealing by a director

The petitioner in H.C. 4319, 3094/93, argued that proper legal and public norms demand an immediate end to the 4th respondent's tenure of office as a Minister. This petitioner's approach is similar to that of the third respondent, as expressed in his application to the second respondent. …

Bargil V. Government Of Israel, Meir Shamgar, Theodor Or, Eliezer Goldberg

Translated Opinions

The petition asks the court to find the Government’s policy of allowing
Israeli citizens to settle in the occupied territories of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza
Strip to be illegal. The court held that the petition was too general to be justiciable.

Manning V. Attorney General, Eliezer Goldberg, Aharon Barak, Eliahu Mazza, Dalia Dorner, Shlomo Levin

Translated Opinions

Facts: The petitioner was tried for murder in the United States. The trial was declared a mistrial after the jury failed to reach an unanimous verdict, and the prosecution cancelled the indictment, reserving the right to submit a new one.

The petitioner returned to Israel. The United States requested her extradition to stand trial for the same murder, and the District Court declared her to be extraditable. Her appeal to the Supreme Court was denied, but the President of the Supreme Court granted her application to hold a further hearing on the question of whether the defence of double jeopardy …

Eisenberg V. Minister Of Building And Housing, Aharon Barak, Eliezer Goldberg, Eliahu Mazza

Translated Opinions

Facts: The sixth respondent (Ginosar) was formerly a member of the General Security Service. He was involved in the ‘300 bus’ affair and the ‘Nafso’ affair.

In the ‘300 bus’ affair, a bus was seized by terrorists. The army stormed the bus, rescued the passengers and two of the terrorists were arrested alive. It was later announced that all the terrorists died in the rescue. A commission of enquiry was appointed, and Ginosar was one of its members. He acted in this capacity to cover up the involvement of some of the General Security Service personnel in the case. Ginosar …

Shalit V. Peres, Meir Shamgar, Aharon Barak, Eliezer Goldberg

Translated Opinions

The combined petitions in this case raise a single issue, i.e., whether agreements concluded between Knesset factions with a view to the establishment of a coalition government (referred to hereafter as "coalition agreements") are required to be brought to the attention of the public.

In view of Israel's electoral system, resulting invariably in the representation in the Knesset of a large number of factions and the consequent need to establish coalition governments, the question is of considerable practical importance, and coalition agreements are indeed a regular feature in the process of formation of governments.

Attorney for the Likud faction argued …

Universal City Studios V. Films And Plays Censorship Board, Meir Shamgar, Aharon Barak, Shlomo Levin, Eliezer Goldberg, Yaakov Malz

Translated Opinions

The Films and Plays Censorship Board decided to prohibit the screening in Israel of the film "The Last Temptation of Christ" on the ground that it was calculated to offend the religious susceptibilities and beliefs of the Christian communities in Israel, and to cause injury to the State of Israel.

The producers of the film and its distributors petitioned the High Court of Justice for an order nisi against the Board, which was granted. On allowing the petition and making the order nisi absolute, the High Court held as follows:

1. The point of departure for examining the legality of …

Schnitzer V. Chief Military Censor, Aharon Barak, Yaakov Malz, Shulamit Wallenstein

Translated Opinions

The Petitioners sought to publish a newspaper article that was critical of the outgoing head of the Mossad, the Agency for Intelligence and Special Duties, on the occasion of the forthcoming appointment of a new Mossad head. The article did not mention his name or otherwise identify him. After several versions of the article were submitted for approval to the first Respondent, the Chief Military Censor, and after the Petitioners agreed not to publish certain parts of the article, the Censor forbade the publication of two matters: criticism of the head of the Mossad's effectiveness, on the ground that such …

Shnitzer V. Chief Military Censor, Aharon Barak, Yaakov Melitz, Shulamit Wallenstein

Translated Opinions

[This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.] 

This petition concerns the decision by the First Respondent to prohibit, under its authority according to Regulation 87(1) of the Defense Regulations (State of Emergency) 1945, the publication of a newspaper article criticizing the functioning of the Director of the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (the “Mossad”,) while noting the upcoming change in Mossad directors. After submitting to the First Respondent different versions …

Kach V. Central Election Committee For The Twelfth Knesset, Meir Shamgar, Menachem Elon, Moshe Bejski, Dov Levin, Shlomo Levin

Translated Opinions

The Appeal revolved around the decision of the Central Election Committee for the Twelfth Knesset, under its authority according to section 63 of the Knesset Elections Act [Consolidated Version] 1969, that the “Kach” List be barred from participating in elections to the Knesset, under section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset. The Appellant’s argue that section 7A, which was added to Basic Law: The Knesset is invalid for the following reasons: it is inconsistent with the principle of equality as established by section 4 of Basic Law: The Knesset; it is an extreme divergence from the principles of democracy and …

Shakdiel V. Minister Of Religious Affairs, Menachem Elon, Aharon Barak, Miriam Ben-Porat

Translated Opinions

The Jewish Religious Services Law provides for the establishment of local religious councils throughout the country, charged with the duty to provide Jewish religious services and to allocate public funds in support of such religious services, as are needed in the area. By Law, the membership of such councils is to reflect the general public desire and need for the distribution of such religious services in the locality and the range of interest in such services. In determining the Council's make-up, attention must be given to the different groups represented in the Local or Municipal Council and to their respective …

Amit V. Southern District Police Commander, Aharon Barak, Dov Levin, Shoshana Netanyahu

Translated Opinions

The Petition centred on the Respondent's refusal to permit the Petitioners - who petitioned the Court on behalf of the "Committee Against the War in Lebanon" - to hold a demonstration and procession to mark the thirtieth day of the death of the late Emil Greenzweig, who had been killed in the course of a demonstration held by the "Peace Now" movement. The Police Commissioner's reasons for his refusal were his apprehension, that what had happened before in the demonstration held by "Peace Now" was likely to happen again, and that if it did, the police would be unable to …

Levi V. Commander Of The Southern District Of The Israeli Police, Aharon Barak, Dov Levin, Shoshana Netanyahu

Translated Opinions

The Petition centred on the Respondent's refusal to permit the Petitioners - who petitioned the Court on behalf of the "Committee Against the War in Lebanon" - to hold a demonstration and procession to mark the thirtieth day of the death of the late Emil Greenzweig, who had been killed in the course of a demonstration held by the "Peace Now" movement. The Police Commissioner's reasons for his refusal were his apprehension, that what had happened before in the demonstration held by "Peace Now" was likely to happen again, and that if it did, the police would be unable to …

M.K. Sarid V. Chairman Of The Knesset, Aharon Barak, Dov Levin, Miriam Ben-Porat

Translated Opinions

On December 1, 1981, the Alignment group in the Knesset submitted a motion of no confidence in the government. The Knesset Chairman (Speaker) set the following day, December 2, as the time for the debate and vote on the motion, and fixed the time for the opening of the session at 5 p.m. The Petitioner seeks an order nisi against the Chairman to show cause why he should not convene the Knesset session at its regular hour, 11 a.m. He contends that this is the hour at which Knesset sessions have always begun and that the Chairman fixed the time …

Pardess Hana V. The Minister Of Agriculture, Zvi Berinson, Shimon Agranat, Eliyahu Manny, Moshe Silberg, Alfred Witkon

Translated Opinions

The petitioners (two of them suppliers of water and two consumers) complained that a scheme to mix the "sweet" water they were receiving at present with water from the National Water Carrier would increase the chlorine content, with deleterious effects on the plantations supplied with such water. More particularly they claimed inter alia that the demarcation by the Minister of water rationing areas was a distortion of his discretionary powers in that behalf, unnaturally combining regions wholly distinct hydrologically, and that the regulations made under the Law were too general and imprecise and left the final decision in important aspects …

Marbek Slaughter House V. Chief Rabbinical Council, Yitzhak Olshan, Alfred Witkon, Eliyahu Manny, Moshe Landau, Shimon Agranat

Translated Opinions

The kashrut of the petitioners' establishment was not disputed but the respondents imposed conditions on the grant of the license - in particular requiring the petitioners (l) not to market their kosher meat to butcher shops which did not hold a licence from the first respondent and (2) to market their non-kosher meat to non-Jewish butchers alone and on guarantee that the meat would not find its way into the Jewish market - which the petitioners claimed had nothing to do with the kashrut of their slaughterhouse and imposed a heavy financial burden on them, in addition to being discriminatory …

Shmuel V. Attorney General, Moshe Landau, Alfred Witkon, Zvi Berinson, Shimon Agranat, Haim Herman Cohn

Translated Opinions

The Attorney-General applied for an order against the applicants to remove their children from a Christian missionary school where they had placed them and to arrange for the children's education in a Jewish school. In those proceedings in the Tel Aviv District Court, the applicants requested that the sitting judge should disqualify himself because he was an orthodox Jew and people might gain the impression that he would therefore not deal with the matter impartially. The judge refused to do so and the applicants moved the Supreme Court to have the hearings transferred to another judge of the Tel Aviv …

Bohakov V. The Mayor, Council, & Inhabitants Of Herzlia, Eliyahu Manny, Binyamin Halevy, Yitzhak Olshan

Translated Opinions

Under a road construction scheme. the local authority planned to construct a road across the appellant's land. Notice was sent to the latter, asking him to vacate the land affected and move the fences and that in default the local authority would do so at his expense. The appellant refused to comply and informed the respondent that he would deny it and its agents access to the land. Some days afterwards, local authority employees tore down the fences involved, uprooted trees and began to lay a road close to the appellant's dwelling. The appellant called the police who did not …

El-Saruji V. Minister Of Religious Affairs And The Moslem Council, Moshe Landau, Moshe Silberg, Zvi Berinson

Translated Opinions

The petitioners complained generally of the alleged interference of the Minister of Religious Affairs in matters affecting the Moslem Community of Acre and more particularly of the activities and powers of the local Moslem council appointed by the Ministry.

Held. The departure from the country of Moslem leaders and officials as a result of the events of 1948 had led to a complete collapse of all Moslem institutions and their ceasing to function. In order to remedy the situation and recreate these institutions the Ministry had not proceeded under any express statutory provision but by virtue of general power vested …

Abudi V. Minister Of Religion, Moshe Silberg, Alfred Witkon, Haim Herman Cohn

Translated Opinions

Upon the death of Chief Rabbi Herzog, an Election Committee of eight members was nominated under the Regulations to appoint and convene an Electoral Assembly. Half of the Committee was nominated by the Rabbinical Council in January 1960 and half by the Minister of Religions in June 1960. The first meeting of the Committee was convened by the Minister in July 1960, notwithstanding the claim of the Rabbinical Council that the invitation should be a joint one. In consequence, the four Council members refused to attend but subsequently one of them, Rabbi Abu Revia, relented. Thereupon the other three tendered …

Attorney General V. Hornstein, Shimon Agranat, Moshe Silberg, David Goitein

Translated Opinions

Section 25(1) of the Road Transport Ordinance and section 99(1) of the Municipal Corporations Ordinance provide as follows:

"25(1) A municipal...council may, with the consent of the district commissioner and the licensing authorfty, make bye-laws in regard to the following matters-...

(b) the regulation by prohibition or otherwise of vehicles when stationary within the municipal... area."

"99(1) A municipal council may make by-laws to enable or assist it to carry out any of the matters it is required or empowered to do under...any other Ordinance... and may by such by-laws provide for the payment of any fees...by any person...in connection …

Berman Et Al. V. Minister Of Interior, Moshe Silberg, Yoel Sussman, Alfred Witkon

Translated Opinions

The district of Nahlath Yitzhak consisting of 250 families had for very many years been part of Tel Aviv Municipality. Since 1949 a movement to sever this connection had gathered strength and in 1950 a petition to this end, signed by 353 residents, had been delivered to the Ministry of the Interior. Tel Aviv had claimed that the petitioners were not authorized to speak for all the residents and the matter was left in abeyance until 1956, when it once more became active on the delivery of a similar petition signed by 491 persons. The Minister then appointed a commission …

Weiss V. Inspector General, Moshe Landau, Yitzhak Olshan, Yoel Sussman

Translated Opinions

The petitioners were members of the Israel Police Force. They were sent to the "Gaza strip" when it was occupied by Israel armed forces after the Sinai Campaign to do normal police work there. In contravention of an order forbidding the purchase of goods, they bought nylon material, medicines, cameras and films. They were charged before a Court of Discipline which was set up under the Police Ordinance. The petitioners contended that the court had no jurisdiction to hear charges against them because, inter alia, the Police Ordinance only dealt and could only deal with offences committed in Israel and …

Burka'an V. Minister Of Finance, Haim Herman Cohn, David Bechor, Meir Shamgar

Translated Opinions

An order nisi required that Respondent 2 (The Company for the Reconstruction and Development of the Jewish Quarter) show cause as to why it should refrain from granting a lease to the Petitioner for one of the apartments regarding which the Respondent published an “offer of apartments to the public”, and why the provision under which the offering is limited to Israeli citizens and new olim [immigrants under the Law of Return] should not be revoked.

The High Court of Justice held:

A. The Respondent’s demand that the lessees of apartments in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City be …

Yehoshua V. Appeals Tribunal Under The Invalids Law, Yitzhak Olshan, Zvi Berinson, Alfred Witkon

Translated Opinions

The petitioner applied to the High Court for an order of certiorari against the Appeals Tribunal set up under the Invalids (Pensions and Rehabilitation) Law, 1949, and prayed to set aside the decision of the Tribunal rejecting his appeal against the refusal of the competent authority to recognise his right to a pension. He alleged that the Tribunal had ignored certain medical evidence.

Held (by Olshan P. and Berenson J., Witkon J. dissenting):

(1) The High Court has no jurisdiction to review the decision of the Appeals Tribunal, and the application must be refused.

Zeraubavel v. Appeals Tribunal under Fallen …

Sapoznikov V. The Court Of Discipline Of The Israel Police, Yoel Sussman, Moshe Silberg, Yitzhak Olshan

Translated Opinions

Under section 18 of the Police Ordinance the Inspector-General may constitute Courts of Discipline to try police officers charged with disciplinary offences, the section prescribing the offences which may be the subject of such charges. One of those offences is thus described (in section 18(1)(i)): "any offence contrary to the good order and discipline of the Force.. ." The High Commissioner in Council was empowered by section 50(1)(e) to make rules "for the definition of offences to the prejudice of good order and discipline", and under that power made the Police (Disciplinary Offences) (Definition) Rules, 1941. Offence No. 23 of …

Roznek V. Dawman, Simha Assaf, Alfred Witkon, Yitzhak Olshan

Translated Opinions

The parents of a girl of five years of age agreed in the course of divorce proceedings that the child should be placed in an orphanage, and that both parents should be entitled to visit her there. The mother remarried, and subsequently applied to the District Court for custody of the child on the ground that it would be in the child's interests that she should live with her mother. The father entered an appearance, but failed to file a defence, and the District Court, after considering the merits of the case, dismissed the application. The mother appealed and contended …