Israeli Law - Israeli Court System

Israeli Court System

The Shalom Court (Beit Mishpat HaShalom) handles civil cases of less than 2.5 million shekels, but not disputes over the ownership of land and criminal cases in which the maximum sentence is 7 years or more. Shalom Courts are to be found in most Israeli towns. The Shalom Court has 6 subdivisions. (1) The Juvenile Court deals with criminal offenses committed by people who were not 18 on the date of prosecution and some issues relating to the removal of children from parental custody. (2) The Family Court deals with all civil cases where the parties are close family members. (3) The Small Claims Court deals with cases of less than 30 thousand shekels. (4) "Hotsa'a Lapoal" is the bailiff's office for judgment debt collection. (5) The Traffic Court deals with all traffic offenses. (6) The Court of Local Issues deals with all offenses prosecuted by local authorities (parking tickets, planning violations etc.).

The District Court (Beit Mishpat Mehozi) deals with all civil and criminal matters not under the jurisdiction of the Shalom Court including disputes over the ownership of land. This court also has jurisdiction over most administrative cases. This court also hears appeals from the Shalom Court. There are six courts, one in each of Israel's districts: Jerusalem (also has extra jurisdiction of extra territorial matters), Tel Aviv, Haifa, Center (in Petah Tiqwa), South (in Beer-Sheva), and North (in Nazareth).

The Israeli Supreme Court (Beit Mishpat Elyon) mostly hears appeals from the District Court but also sits as the High Court of Justice and as such hears administrative cases not under the jurisdiction of the District Courts. Many political cases and cases of international interest are heard by the Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice.

The Labour Tribunals (Batei Ha'din Le'avoda) hears all cases where the parties are employer and employee, all cases against the National Insurance Institute and some other socially oriented matters. it is an independent system composed of 5 district tribunals (Jeruslem, Tel-Aviv, Haifa, South and North) and one national tribunal in Jerusalem (Beit Ha'din Ha'artzi).

There are also religious tribunals in Israel. Some specific legal matters in Israel (e.g., matters of personal status such as marriage and divorce) come under the jurisdiction of the religious tribunal system. There is a list of legally recognized religious communities: Jewish, Muslim, Greek Orthodox Christian, Catholic Christian etc. The small Protestant Christian community in Israel is not recognized; the Jewish community for this purpose does not include the non-Orthodox denominations, Reform and Conservative. Each religious community has its own religious court. For example, Jewish weddings are sanctioned only by the local Religious Council, and divorces of Jews are handled exclusively by the Rabbinical Courts. The judges (dayanim) of the Jewish Rabbinical Courts are all Orthodox rabbis. (Matters incidental to divorce such as distribution of property, child custody etc. are dealt with in the Family Courts, but the personal law of the parties will be applied.)

The judges of the various courts are chosen by a committee comprising 9 members: 3 Supreme Court Judges, 2 government ministers (one is the Minister of Justice), 2 members of the Knesset (one from the opposition), and 2 representatives of the Israel Bar Association The composition of the committee is slightly different when it chooses Labour Court Judges or judges of the religious tribunals.