Israel: the Emergence of a Polity—Part II

Abstract

ISRAEL'S LEGAL SYSTEM, in the absence of a permanent constitution, is based on five principal sources: (1) Ottoman law, which had been the law of the land before the British defeated Turkey in World War I; (2) mandate law of Palestine; (3) English law common law and equity; (4) parliamentary law enacted by Israel's Knesset; and (5) religious law, a special body of law with a separate court system prevailing in matters of marriage, divorce, alimony, burial, and, in some instances, inheritance. The bulk has been English law. In the fields of bankruptcy, bills of exchange, criminal law, court procedure, rent restrictions, and torts, almost the entire jurisprudence has been English. However, as during the mandate period, there is no trial by jury, and no judges are popularly elected. The Law and Administration Ordinance, enacted by the provisional State Council on May 19, 1948, continued the laws and courts in force under the mandate, except as changed by the new state. Sixteen magistrate's courts have jurisdiction over minor civil and light criminal cases. Three district courts, sitting in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa, possess jurisdiction as courts of first instance in all civil matters not within the jurisdiction of the magistrate's courts and in all major criminal cases. They serve also as appellate courts for the magistrate's courts. Administratively, the judges of the magistrate's and district courts were, until August, 1953, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, and the minister appointed and promoted them. Under an amendment to the legal code passed by the Knesset, appointments are now made by the president on the recommendation of an appointments committee; and, administratively, these judges are directly responsible to no official of the Ministry of Justice other than the minister.2 On June 24, 1948, the provisional State Council enacted the Courts Ordinance providing for the functioning of the Supreme Court of Israel, with its judges to be appointed by the provisional government on the