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ABSTRACT
This article presents the history of the administration of courts in Israel, from 1948 to circa 1995, unearthing a series of tensions that undergirded the management of Israeli courts throughout their history. It illustrates that judiciary-executive tensions, as well as intra-judiciary and other extra-judiciary tensions, informed the trajectory of Israeli court administration. Furthermore, the article singles out two outstanding figures in the history of the Israeli judiciary, chief justices Yitzhak Olshan and Meir Shamgar, whose lesser-known preoccupation with the administration of courts – alongside the work of even lesser-known Israeli jurists who “managed” Israeli courts for decades – is revealed in the article.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to former Deputy Attorney General Judith Karp and former Chief Justice the late Meir Shamgar for private interviews. We also thank Yoel Lavie and Liel Peleg for research assistance. Earlier versions of the article were presented at the annual meeting of the Israeli Society of Law and History (Jerusalem, 2015), the Tel-Aviv University Law School Faculty Seminar (Tel-Aviv, 2017), and the international workshop “Managing Judges: Technology, History and Separation of Powers” (Haifa University, 2016). The authors have benefitted tremendously from comments made on those occasions and wish to thank their participants. In particular, we thank Chris Tomlins, Ron Harris, and Yoram Shachar for their generous, thoughtful, and detailed comments on the article made at the latter international workshop.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Olshan was one of the first five justices appointed to the Supreme Court of the sovereign State of Israel, originally under the leadership of Moshe Smoira, the first Israeli chief justice. However, Smoira was hardly a healthy man when elevated to the bench in 1948, and even though Olshan would be formally made the stand-in chief justice only in 1953, there was no doubt that in effect Olshan headed the Court since the beginning of the 1950s. As we shall see, early on, Olshan revealed an interest in administrative matters, much more than his colleagues. See: a letter of the Secretary of the chief justice to the director of courts (October 15, 1952), the director’s reply (November 11, 1952) and the circular he distributed according to the acting chief justice’s comment included in his secretary’s letter, circular no. 2 to the magistrate judges (October 17, 1952), all in Israel State Archives (ISA) ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jz. See also: several other circulars that the director distributed through the rest of 1952 on various matters, all intended to create a uniform and centralized administration of courts.
2. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1975, Shamgar had been the military advocate general and the state’s attorney general.
3. Shetreet, “Tarbut ha-atzmatut ha-shiputit,” 525–583.
4. Shetreet, “Hizuk ha-reshut ha-shofetet,” 174–194. But see: Lurie et al., “Nefilato ve-aliyato shel minhal batey ha-mishpat”
5. Šipulová et al., “Judicial Self-Governance Index.”
6. Ibid.
7. Lurie et al., “Agencification and the administration.”
8. Garoupa and Ginsburg, Judicial Reputation; Kosař, Perils of Judicial Self-Government.
9. Sagy, “Le-ma’an ha-tzedek,” 225–297; Letter of the Officer Administering the Government to the Chief Justice (October 21, 1935), ISA ISA-MandatoryOrganizations-SecretaryJudicial-000n7ye.
10. Shetreet, “Arba’im shana la-mishpat ha-hukati,” 573–615; Rubinstein, “Shoftey Eretz,” 40–45 and 59; Olshan, Din-U-Dvarim, 223; The handwritten notes of Chief Justice Smoira before an August 17, 1948 meeting with the Attorney General, Israel State Archives-Privatecollections-MosheZmora-000lgjd; Shetreet,“Hizuk ha-reshut ha-shofetet;” Courts Order (Transitory Provisions), 1949, § 10. https://lawjournal.huji.ac.il/sites/default/files/2018–01/%D7%97%D7%99%D7%96%D7%95%D7%A7%20%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA%20%D7%94%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%98%D7%AA%20%D7%95%D7%A6%D7%9E%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%9D%20%D7%A1%D7%9E%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA%20%D7%A9%D7%A8%20%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%A4%D7%98%D7%99%D7%9D.pdf. Accessed July 5, 2023.
11. Millar and Baar, Judicial Administration in Canada, 64–65.
12. Clearly, other reasons also played a role in the emergent German-like design of the novel Justice Ministry. As pointed out to us by Yoram Shachar, Prime Minister Ben Gurion sought the support of the (“German”) Progressive Party – especially the support of its leader, Rosen – in order to form a coalition. As a result, the Ministry was cobbled up in 1948, under the understanding that Rosen would be in charge of it. On the Progressive Party, see: Getter, “Ha-hitargenut ha-politit ha-nifredet,” 240–291.
13. The agenda of a meeting of officials including the minister of justice (July 6, 1948), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000r6wv.
14. See correspondence on the budget for furnishing the Supreme Court, bypassing Judge Aluf (August 16, 1950), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2dz; Ministry of Justice decisions of October 4, 1949, and November 11, 1950, ordering the distribution of correspondence in various matters within the Ministry of Justice, ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rfzn. See also, for example, Meeting of March 28, 1949, ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2dv; ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2dz and ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2k4; Ben Aharon and Kleiman, “Ta’alumat ha-tmuna ha-hasera,” 19–24.
15. These sentiments were echoed in like-minded letters sent by leading attorneys to the minister and the chief justice in 1949 and 1950. See: Letter of Adv. Jacob Salomon to the Minister of Justice (November 15, 1949), ISA ISA-Privatecollections-YaacovSalomon-0010vjv; Report of Justice Olshan.
16. See, for instance: General Manager of the Ministry of Justice to the Chief Justice, Setting up a meeting on “measures to hasten the hearing of trials” (August 23, 1949), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2k5; various complaints on delays in courts (1950), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2k5; Y. Ophir. “Pigurim Be-Diyuney Beit Ha-Din Ha-Elyon [Delays in Supreme Court Proceedings],” Herut, February 8, 1949, 3, https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/hrt/1949/02/08/01/article/55; Minister of Justice to Justice Olshan, Letter of Appointment to “review the status of work in the district courts” (June 13, 1950), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2dv. See further suggestions for reform from the years 1949–1952, below.
17. Ibid.
18. Report of Justice Olshan.
19. Olshan, Din u-dvarim, 225.
20. Divrei Ha-Knesset 46 (June 13, 1966), 1715. The interesting fact is that when Olshan’s director of courts model was installed, in July 1952, Rosen’s party, the Progressive Party, had not been part of the coalition parties forming the government for almost a year. Dov Yosef of the ruling Mapai party served as minister of justice from October 1951 until June 1952, followed for a brief while by Attorney General Cohn. Yosef would be the justice minister again in 1961–1966.
21. The Israeli Judiciary has always been divided into several districts, all under the rule of a single supreme court. There were three District Courts in Israel in 1950, each headed by a president; there were several Magistrate Courts in each district, collectively headed by chief judges.
22. President Azulai’s memo in the Attorney General’s letter to the Chief Justice (December 24, 1950), and President Azulai’s notes from his meeting with the Minister of Justice (February 23, 1951) in his letter to the Chief Justice (February 28, 1951), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2dv.
23. Attorney General Cohn’s letter to the presidents of courts (March 3, 1952), ISA, ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2dv.
24. Letter of the President of the District Court of Tel Aviv Bar-Zachai to the Attorney General (March 13, 1952), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2dv.
25. The Minister of Justice to the Chief Justice, side letter to the terms of appointment of the Director of Courts (July 28, 1952), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jy; Minister of Justice to Judge Yehoshua Eisenberg, Terms of Appointment as Director of Courts (July 28, 1952), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jy.
26. On the numbers of workers, see: List of employees of the Ministry of Justice (undated), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rfzn; The Budget Law of the Year 1953/54; Budget Law of the Year 1963/4; Budget Law of the Year 1973. For Olshan’s report, see: Report of Justice Olshan. On placing the Administration in the same building as the Supreme Court, see a letter of the Director of Courts to the Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court (September 17, 1952), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00.
27. See: Report of Justice Yitzhak Olshan (undated), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2dv; Olshan, Din-u-dvarim, 225; See note 24 above.
28. See note 25 above.
29. Translation into English taken from Israel’s Courts of Law and Tribunals (Haifa: Aryeh Greenfield-A.G. Publications, 2nd ed., 2003) of the Courts Law, 1984.
30. Circular no. 1 of the Director of Courts (October 10, 1952), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00.
31. Letter of the Director of Courts to Judge Bernard Botein (December 13, 1966), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8j.
32. See: Circulars of the Director of Courts (December 1, 1952), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jz.
33. Exceptions exist. For instance, the Minister reprimanded Director Eisenberg a few months after his appointment, for directly addressing the Knesset instead of going through him. Similarly, the Ministry’s general manager reproached the director in March 1954, for revealing the intent to establish another court in Tel-Aviv without prior consultation and collaboration with Ministry officials. See: Letter of the Minister of Justice to the Director of Courts (November 28, 1952), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00; Letter of the General Managerof the Ministry of Justice to the Director of Courts (March 1, 1954), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg04.
34. For interventions from the Ministry of Finance, see below in “Enduring Tensions and Points of Contention: 1952–1995”.
35. See letter of the Director of Courts reprimanding Judge Bar-Zeev for coming late to work (October 25, 1966), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8j; Letter of complaint by advocates Abd El-Rahman Zuubi, Gargura, El Hawari and others to the Minister of Justice and the director of courts with regard to the problems in the operation of the Magistrate Court of Nazareth (October 21, 1965), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg0h.
36. Cf.: Circular no. 1 of the Director of Courts (October 10, 1952), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00; circular of the Director of Courts to the Presidents of the Courts stipulating that judges would henceforth work five days a week (August 31, 1966), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8j; “Sidrey avoda hadashim le-shoftim be-matara le-hitgaber al ha-sahevet [New Regulations of Work for Judges in Order to Overcome Foot-Dragging],” Davar, May 20, 1974, 12, https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1974/05/20/01/article/146; Shetreet, “Hizuk ha-reshut ha-shofetet,” 186–187.
37. For his great respect of the judges, see his letter to the chief justice (December 7, 1948), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2e0.
38. Divrei HaKnesset 46 (June 13, 1966), 1708.
39. Yigal Lev, “Ha-Tzaad Ha-Bba: Kviat ”Baal Bait” Le-Batey Ha-Mishpat [The Next Step: Appointing a ‘Landlord’ over the Courts].” Maariv, November 9, 1966, 12, https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/mar/1966/11/09/01/article/78.
40. Private Interview with former Chief Justice Meir Shamgar (December 31, 2016), on file with the authors; Lahav, Israel be-mishpat, 243–244.
41. See: Letter of Attorney General Shamgar to various Government Ministers, the Secretary of the Government, Head of the Budget and Legal Advisors to Ministers August 10, 1971), and the accompanying Draft Bill Courts Law (amendment) 1971, ISA ISA-PMO-GovernmentSecretary-000k2bb; Letter of Attorney General Shamgar to the director of courts (November 5, 1973), and the accompanying draft bill, ISA isa-justice-courtadministration-000dp0h; Draft Bill Judges Law (Amendment) (undated, circa 1973), ISA isa-justice-courtadministration-000dp0h; Draft Bill Courts Law 1974, ISA isa-justice-courtadministration-000dp0h; Minutes of meetings at the Ministry of Justice (May 19, 1974; May 29, 1974; June 19, 1974), ISA isa-justice-courtadministration-000dp0h; Geva, Aharon. “Madua Nihul Batey Ha-Mishpat Le-Nassi Beit Ha-Mishpat Ha-Elyon [Why [transfer the authority] to Manage the Courts to the Chief Justice].” Davar, October 27, 1972: 13, https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1972/10/27/01/article/124. Cf. to later drafts that did not include such provisions, e.g.: Draft Bill Basic Law: the Judiciary 1982, ISA isa-justice-courtadministration-000dp0j; Draft Bill Judges Law (Amendment of section 14) 1983, ISA isa-justice-courtadministration-000dp0j.
42. See: Section 24 of the Draft Bill Courts Law (amendment) 1971, ISA ISA-PMO-GovernmentSecretary-000k2bb; Section 18 of the Draft Bill Courts Law (Amendment) 1974, ISA isa-justice-courtadministration-000dp0h; Sections 1 and 2 of a Draft Bill Judges Law (Amendment) (undated, circa 1973), ISA isa-justice-courtadministration-000dp0h. To later drafts that did not include such provisions, see note 40 above.
43. Letter of a Ministry of Finance official to the Attorney General (September 22, 1971), ISA ISA-PMO-GovernmentSecretary-000k2bb; Private Interview with Chief Justice Shamgar; Private Telephone Interview with former Deputy Attorney General Judith Karp (January 25, 2015), on file with the Authors.
44. Shimon Shetreet, “Atzmaut ha-shoftim ve-yeilut batey ha-mishpat [Independence of the Judges and Efficiency of the Courts].” Maariv, June 5, 1974, 5, https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/mar/1974/06/05/01/article/47.
45. Shetreet, “Ha-ahrayut al minhal batey ha-mishpat,” 517.
46. Ibid.
47. Rubinstein, Shoftey eretz, 114.
48. Alon ma’arekhet ha-shiput 11 (August 1987), 5 and 25–30; Private Interview with Chief Justice Shamgar.
49. Ibid; Mazza et. al., Report of the Commission for Judicial Council.
50. Kedmi et. al., Report of the Commission; Ibid.
51. See: Circular no. 1 of the Director of Courts to the District Court judges (October 10, 1952), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00; Circular no. 1 of the Director of Courts to the registrars and chief secretaries of the District Courts (October 10, 1952), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00; Circular no. 1 of the Director of Courts to Magistrate Courts judges (October 10, 1952), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00; Circular no. 1 of the Director of Courts to the chief secretaries of the Magistrate Courts (October 12, 1952), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00; Report of the Director of Courts to the State Comptroller (November 17, 1953), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00; 22nd Annual Report of the Israel State Comptroller for the Year 1971 (1972), 472–476; Several letters exchanged between the Administration of Courts and the State Comptroller (December 1971-February 1972), ISA ISA-comptroller-StateInstitutions-0004w7l (from these letters it is clear that the day-to-day running of the district courts was at the hands of the court presidents).
52. President Azulai’s letters to Chief Justice Agranat (July 4, 1967), and to the Minister of Justice (July 10, 1967), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8l. President Azulai’s letter to Justice Landau (January 1, 1968), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8q.
53. Ibid.
54. On the resistance of a District Court President in the late 1980s to the computerization of the Judiciary, see: Ben-Dror, Haim she-kae’lea, 129.
55. See note 24 above; Report of Justice Olshan.
56. Complaint of Adv. Moshe Goldenberg to the chief justice (December 25, 1949), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2k5.
57. Letter of the Minister of Justice to the presidents of the District Courts of Jerusalem, Haifa, and Beer Sheva (March 25, 1968), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8q; Letter of the president of the District Court of Beer Sheva to the Minister of Justice (March 31, 1968), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8q.
58. Minutes of a meeting of the presidents of the district courts including the director of courts and his deputy (September 29, 1965), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg0h.
59. See: letter of chief justice (of a Magistrate Court) segal to the director of courts (November 24, 1964), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8k; letter of the director of courts to the Minister of Justice (November 15, 1966), and the negative reply of his Chief of Staff (January 17, 1967), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8k.
60. See note 25 above; Report of Justice Olshan.
61. See, e.g.: Abraham Rosentlar’s complaint to the director of courts (July 4, 1958), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2dv; complaint of Michael Straus to the Minister of Justice (November 3, 1967), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8k; Complaint of Adv. Zvi I. Ben Shlomo against Judge Joseph Harish to the director of courts (November 1, 1966), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8k; other documents submitted to the director in the matter of Judge Harish and the decision of the director sent to the Minister of Justice stating that the complaint is unfounded (January 8, 1967), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8k. From the 1980s, see: Ben-Dror, Haim she-kae’lea, 129–130.
62. Letter of President Bar-Zachai to the Director of Courts complaining that new regulations on sick leave have created disgruntlement with the judges (January 2, 1953), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00; letter of Deputy President Zeltner to the Director of Courts on the wishes of judges to transfer between courts (March 1, 1954), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2k3; letter of the State Attorney to the Director of Courts (November 27, 1952, entitled “secret”), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00.
63. See, for instance: Letter of Judge Harish to Chief Justice Olshan, November 12, 1962, ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jy; Letter of the Minister of Justice to three Magistrate Court judges, September 23, 1962, ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2kb; letter of the National Representation of the Magistrate Courts Judges of Israel to the Minister of Justice, November 8, 1966, ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8k; “Ma’amatz Limnoa Hashbatat Batei-Hamishpat [An Attempt to Prevent the Courts’ Strike].” Davar, March 2, 1978: 2, https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1978/03/02/01/article/41; Tadmor, Joshua. “Itzhaak Olshan Nassi Beit Ha-Mishpat Ha-Elyon Le-Sheavar: Hashkhu Einay Khasher Shamati Al Shoftim Ha-Meaymim Lishbot [Former Chief Justice Izhaak Olshan: My Eyes Were Darkened When I heard that Judges Were Threatening to Strike].” Davar, March 3, 1978: 14, https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1978/03/03/01/article/131; Ha-Shoftim Bitlu Yetziatam Le-Hufsha Be’ikvot Pgisha Im Sar Ha-Mishpatim [The Judges Cancelled their Going on Vacation Following a Meeting with the Minister of Justice].” Davar, March 6, 1978: 1, https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1978/03/06/01/article/10
64. Letter of the Representation of the District Courts to the Chief Justice (December 4, 1952), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000bdg4; minutes of a meeting between the Chief Justice and the director of courts (December 24, 1952), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2k2.
65. Letter of Judge Eisenberg to the Chief Justice (September 24, 1962), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jy; letter of the Chief Justice to the Judge Eisenberg (September 26, 1962), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jy; letter of Judge Eisenberg to the Chief Justice (September 26, 1962), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jy; letter of Judge Eisenberg to the Chief Justice (October 2, 1962), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jy; letter of Judge Eisenberg to the Chief Justice (October 3, 1962), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jy.
66. See note 31 above.
67. Letter of Chief Justice Agranat to the Minister of Justice (June 10, 1968), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8r; Lahav, Israel be-mishpat, 244.
68. Private Interview with former Chief Justice Shamgar; Shamgar, Tam ve-lo nishlam, 148–149; Bulletin of the Judiciary, 6.
69. Mazza et. al., Report of the Commission for Judicial Council.
70. Report of Justice Olshan; President Azulai’s memo; See note 24 above.
71. See note 56 above; letter of the general manager of the Ministry of Justice to the President of the District Court of Tel Aviv on amending the Courts Ordinance (September 8, 1949), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2k5; minutes of the Sub-Committee on the Budget of the Ministry of Justice of the Knesset’s Constitution Committee (January 31, 1950)היכן הטקסט הזה?; ibid., March 21, 1950; ibid., March 28, 1950; ibid., April 10, 1950; ibid., April 17, 1950; ibid., April 26, 1950), ISA ISA-knesset-knesset-0002j3z. See also note 25 above; “Shinuim yesodi’m ba-nohal ha-mishpati le-hahashat ha-shiput ve-leye’ilut administrativit [Fundamental Reforms in Judicial Procedure to Hasten Adjudication and Administrative Efficiency].” Ha-Tzofe, July 15, 1952: 1; See note 51 above.
72. See: Letter of the State Attorney to the director of courts (September 2, 1952), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00; See note 26 above; Letter of the Director of Courts to the Acting Chief Justice (October 10, 1952), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00. See also the aforementioned two letters of the State Attorney to the director of courts (both dated November 27, 1952, one entitled “secret”), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00.
73. See note 61 above, See also: inner correspondence on the aforementioned complaint of various lawyers on the problems in the operation of the Magistrate Court of Nazareth (October 21, 1965), such as Letter of the Deputy Director of Courts to the director of courts (October 17, 1965), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg0h. See also: other complaints mentioned in note 61 above.
74. See note 51 above.
75. The 19th Annual Report of the Israel State Comptroller of the Year 1969 (1970), 358–366); The 22nd Annual Report of the Israel State Comptroller for the Year 1971 (1972), 472–476; The 24th Annual Report of the Israel State Comptroller of the Year 1973 (1974), 490–491.
76. Letter from the general manager (probably) of the Ministry of Justice to the Director of Budget at the Ministry of Finance with regard to the Court of Beer Sheva (February 3, 1953), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00. With regard to purchasing a building for the courts of Tel Aviv, see: Letter of the director of courts to the Minister of Finance (June 21, 1953), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg00; Letter of the director of courts to the Minister of Finance (July 14, 1955), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg04. For the regular correspondence between the Ministry of Finance and the Administration of Courts in the 1960s, see the hundreds of letters in ISA ISA-mof-Budget-000l519, ISA-mof-Budget-000l51a, ISA-mof-Budget-000l51b, ISA-mof-Budget-000l51c, ISA-mof-Budget-000l51d.
77. Letter of the deputy director of courts Eliezer Ha-Levy to the Director of Organization and Methods at the Public Service Commission (October 29, 1958), ISA ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jy.
78. Letter of the director of courts to the Minister of Justice (July 20, 1956), ISA-Courts-SupremeCourtPres-000b2jy.
79. Ibid; Letter of the director of courts to the Minister of Justice (February 7, 1954), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg04; Memo of the Administration of Courts to the Director of Budget at the Ministry of Finance (September 16, 1955), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg04; Ben-Dror, Haim she-kaelea, 127–128.
80. Letter of the director of courts to the Minister of Justice (August 30, 1966), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8j.
81. Letter of the Deputy director of courts to all the Chief Secretaries of the District Courts, the Magistrate Courts and the Supreme Court, Magistrate Courts (March 7, 1966), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg0h. Moreover, in 1966 the director instituted new statistical forms in the Judiciary through cooperation with the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. Circular of the director of courts to the Magistrate Courts (December 31, 1965), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg0h.
82. “Din Ve-heshbon ha-tzevet le-bdikat tzarhei koah ha-adam le-tiful batei ha-mishpat [Report of the Commission Charged with Examining the Human Resource Needs of the Courts],” March 2, 1969, ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8s.
83. Letter of the Deputy director of courts Judge Hagger to the Deputy Attorney General Sher (March 2, 1969), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8s.
84. See: Letter of the Director of Courts to the Minister of Justice (February 23, 1966), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg0h; Letter of the Deputy CEO of the Ministry of Finance Salman to the Director of Courts (March 6, 1966), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg0h; Letter of the Director of Courts to Deputy CEO of the Ministry of Finance Salman (March 10, 1966), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg0h.
85. Letter of the director of courts to the Minister of Justice (June 13, 1968), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8r; Letter of the head of the division for Organization and Methods at the Administration of Courts to the Chief of Staff of the Minister of Justice (October 16, 1968), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8r; Letter of the Chief of Staff of the Minister of Justice to the head of the division for Organization and Methods at the Administration of Courts (October 22, 1968), ISA ISA-justice-justice-000rg8r.
86. Judiciary of Israel Website.
87. Courts Law (Amendment no. 15) 1992.
88. Private Interview with former Chief Justice Shamgar; Shamgar, Tam ve-lo nishlam 148–149; Bulletin of the Judiciary, 6.
89. Lurie, Reichman, and Sagy, “Agencification and the administration,” 718–740.
90. Ibid, 734.
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Notes on contributors
Yair Sagy
Yair Sagy is a Senior Lecturer of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Haifa.
Guy Lurie
Guy Lurie is a Research Fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute.
Amnon Reichman
Amnon Reichman is a Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Haifa.