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"Complainant does not belong to the Jewish people": New report reveals alarming rise in complaints about judges

Contempt, inappropriate remarks, and boycott litigate until she apologizes to the judges.

These are some of the complaints written in the Public Complaints Commissioner's report for 2020, in which 926 complaints were filed, of which 548 were arbitrated.

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• Courts

• Gideon Saar

• Esther Hayut

• Judges

Yael Friedson

Wednesday, 28 July 2021, 17:00 Updated: 17:03

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Retired Judge Uri Shoham, the Ombudsman for Public Complaints against Judges, today (Wednesday) submitted the annual report to Justice Minister Gideon Saar and Supreme Court President Justice Esther Hayut. At the center of the report are inappropriate statements by judges towards the litigants, lawyers and experts who testify in court. "Immediately you will wear a bikini and therefore a mud pool will open here," a judge was quoted as saying in one of the complaints, as he said to lawyers, which developed a substantive argument in court.

According to the report, in 2020, 926 complaints were filed against judges and judges, and decisions were made in 909 complaints. Out of 909 decisions given during the year, 548 complaints were clarified, of which about 20% were found to be justified. Also, about a third of the complaints found were about the misconduct of a judge, about another third about deficiencies in the administration of justice, and 20 percent about the length of proceedings and delays in the issuance of decisions and judgments. 48 complaints ended with a remark to the judge or the judge.

Other statements in the report include: "If you knew what your son said about you", "You need to find your place in life, you need to find a spouse", and even a court proposal to the complainant that she "will find a rich man in the future".

At another hearing, the plaintiff was told to "get out of the courtroom, go to physical therapy and relax," and another plaintiff was told that he must "give pills" to his mother.

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"Justice and oil are the same thing, and finding them is rare" (Photo: Shlomi Gabay)

Other statements by judges expressed contempt for the litigants' desire for justice in court.

In one case it was said that "justice and oil are the same thing, and finding them is rare", and in another case it was clarified that "in court they do justice and 'justice' is the name of a star in the sky".

The report also states that in 2020 the relative increase in complaints about judges in family courts continued, when 193 complaints were received - compared to 184 complaints in 2019 and 130 complaints in 2018. This issue was brought to the attention of the court administration by the Commission to examine the reasons for the phenomenon. This and to draw the required conclusions, as required.

"The complainant is not a Jew and does not belong to the Jewish people"

Some of the complaints were filed against judges in the rabbinical court.

For example, Dayan asked a woman why she needed a divorce in a situation where the defendant's absence did not bother her. The rabbi said, "Because the complainant is not a Jew and does not belong to the Jewish people."

We must especially regret the severe injury to the complainant when the dayan slapped him for not belonging to the Jewish people. "

Will have to address issues.

Saar (Photo: Reuven Castro)

The commission ruled that "these are abusive and blatant statements that are inappropriate for a judge's status in Israel and their place will not be recognized in a state court in Israel.

Some of the complaints concerned the manner in which the proceedings were conducted by the judges. For example, a litigant had to wait outside the courtroom because the judges ordered that the hearing be held only in the presence of the lawyers and the receiver. The commission ruled "that the denial of a party's right to be present at the hearing is a violation of one of the principles of natural justice, in which the rabbinical courts are also obligated to act."

In another case, judges "confiscated" a litigant and demanded that she apologize to them, and for many months ignored legal requests she filed.

Complaints were filed with the Commission about conflicts of interest of judges who heard their family members.

A complaint against a Supreme Court judge was found to be justified, after he heard a petition filed, among other things, against a government office where his daughter is employed in a senior position.

Eight of the ten remedies sought in the petition directly concerned the unit operating in the office where the judge's daughter is employed.

In another complaint, a judge in the rabbinical court who examined rabbinical certification exams, "was allegedly a partner in conducting an examination for the judges to which he approached us and he also allegedly examined his son's examination notebook alongside another examiner."

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