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Courts Law [Consolidated Version], 5744-1984

חוק בתי המשפט [נוסח משולב], תשמ"ד-1984

Published: 1984-08-31Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-09-01 · Last amended 2026-07-29✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-28
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More

This English text was translated from the official Hebrew using a range of translation tools, and it undergoes ongoing checks and updates. It is not a certified translation.

Despite these checks, it may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise renderings of legal terminology and cross-references, and it may not yet reflect the latest amendments. It cannot be relied upon as a legal text.

The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.

This translation is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For use in legal proceedings, request a certified Expert Legal Opinion.

Section E-1: Assets Declaration

Definitions§
21a.

In this Section —

"assets declaration" — a detailed report submitted pursuant to section 21b;

"Assets Declaration Law" — the Public Service (Assets Declaration) Law, 5777-2016;

"State Service (Appointments) Law" — the State Service (Appointments) Law, 5719-1959;

"the Inspector" — the Public Complaints Commissioner for Judges, as defined in the Public Complaints Commissioner for Judges Law, 5762-2002;

"judge" — including a Registrar as defined in section 84(c), and excluding an associate judge.

Submission of Assets Declaration§
21b.
(a)A judge shall submit to the Inspector an assets declaration in respect of the assets and liabilities of the judge and of the judge's spouse living with the judge and of the judge's dependent children.
(b)The assets declaration shall be drawn up in accordance with the form set out in the Second Schedule to the Assets Declaration Law.
Time Limits for Submission of Assets Declaration§
21c.
(a)A judge shall submit an assets declaration to the Inspector as set out below:
(1)within 90 days from the date of completion of the severance of the financial relations of the judge as referred to in section 38d of the Code of Ethics for Judges, 5767-2007;
(2)at the end of every six years from the date of submission of a previous assets declaration; however, a judge may submit an update to his or her declaration if a change has occurred in its content, even if six years as aforesaid have not yet elapsed;
(3)within 90 days from the end of his or her tenure as a judge, unless the judge has moved to another position or role in which an obligation to submit an assets declaration applies to him or her under the Assets Declaration Law, under the State Service (Appointments) Law, or under one of the laws governing holders of judicial office.
(b)The assets declaration shall be updated to the date of completion of the severance of the financial relations of the judge as referred to in subsection (a)(1), to the end of six years from the submission of the previous declaration, or to the date of the end of tenure as a judge, as the case may be, unless otherwise prescribed in the form set out in the Second Schedule to the Assets Declaration Law, and if that is not possible — as close as possible to that date.
(c)
(1)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)(1) and (2), a judge may submit a copy of a previous assets declaration that the judge submitted; however, the foregoing does not exempt a judge from submitting a declaration pursuant to subsection (a)(2) except for a period of six years from the date on which the previous declaration was submitted;
(2)Where a judge submits a copy of a declaration as referred to in paragraph (2) of the definition of "previous declaration", the judge shall attach a declaration by him or her stating that no material change has occurred in the content of the previous declaration.
(d)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the Inspector may extend the time limit for submission of an assets declaration by a period not exceeding 90 days, if the Inspector considers that the circumstances of the matter justify doing so; however, if the judge is expected to complete his or her role and to submit an assets declaration pursuant to subsection (a)(3) within one year — the Inspector may extend the time limit for submission of the assets declaration pursuant to subsection (a)(2) until the expected date of submission of the assets declaration pursuant to subsection (a)(3).
(e)In this section —

"previous declaration" — a declaration as set out below that was submitted in the six years preceding the date on which circumstances arose by reason of which a judge is required to submit an assets declaration as referred to in subsection (a):

(1)an assets declaration under the Assets Declaration Law, under the State Service (Appointments) Law, or under one of the laws governing holders of judicial office;
(2)a declaration to the Israel Tax Authority under section 135(1) of the Income Tax Ordinance [New Version];

"laws governing holders of judicial office" — this Law, the Labour Court Law, 5729-1969, the Dayanim Law, 5715-1955, the Qadis Law, 5721-1961, the Druze Religious Courts Law, 5723-1962, and the Military Jurisdiction Law, 5715-1955;

"material change" — an increase of more than one million new Israeli shekels in the total net worth declared by a judge in the previous assets declaration; the said amount shall be updated on 1 January of each year (in this section — the update date), in accordance with the rate of change of the Consumer Price Index published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, known on the update date compared to the index known on the update date of the preceding year, and shall be rounded to the nearest amount that is a multiple of NIS 10; the Minister shall publish a notice of the updated amount in Reshumot (Official Gazette).

Notice of Obligation to Submit Assets Declaration§
21d.

The division responsible for human resources, or another entity authorised to do so by the Minister with the approval of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset, shall notify a judge of his or her obligation to submit an assets declaration upon his or her appointment and also, no later than 60 days before the date on which the judge is required to submit an assets declaration.

Functions and Powers of the Inspector§
21e.
(a)The Inspector shall maintain a register of the assets declarations that are required to be submitted and that have been submitted pursuant to this Law, shall keep them separately from any other information in a manner that protects them against penetration or unauthorised entry to the place where they are kept, and shall destroy them as the Minister shall prescribe.
(b)If a judge has breached his or her obligation under section 21b, the Inspector shall report this to the President of the Supreme Court, so that the President may consider whether to act in accordance with section 21g.
(c)For the purpose of performing his or her functions and supervising the implementation of the provisions pursuant to this Law, the Inspector may —
(1)inspect the assets declarations that have been submitted;
(2)require a judge to attach to the assets declaration any document required for the purpose of completing the assets declaration; in this paragraph, "document" — including a printout, as defined in the Computers Law, 5755-1995;
(3)conduct sample checks regarding the completion of the particulars and documents required in the assets declarations submitted pursuant to this Law and their compliance with the provisions of the Law.
Preservation of Confidentiality§
21f.
(a)The Inspector shall keep the assets declarations confidential, shall not disclose any particulars from them, and shall not make any use of them, except with the consent or at the request of the judge and with the consent of the person to whom the information relates.
(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) —
(1)a court may order the disclosure of particulars from an assets declaration, if a suspicion of a criminal offence has arisen, and after weighing the degree of harm to privacy entailed in the disclosure of the information;
(2)the President of the Supreme Court may order the disclosure of particulars from an assets declaration in examination proceedings pursuant to section 21g and for the purposes of those proceedings.
Proceedings for Breach of the Obligation to Submit an Assets Declaration§
21g.

The President of the Supreme Court may impose on a judge who breaches his or her obligation under section 21b measures as referred to in section 19(1) to (3), and may also recommend to the Minister the submission of a complaint against such a judge to the Court.

Regulations — Section E-1§
21h.

The Minister, with the approval of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset, may make Regulations on any matter relating to the implementation of this Section.

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Section F: Miscellaneous Provisions

Publication in Reshumot (Official Gazette) [s/25]§
22.

Notice of the appointment of a judge and of the end of his or her tenure shall be published in Reshumot (Official Gazette).

Criminal Jurisdiction [s/26]§
23.

The provisions of section 12 of Basic Law: The Judiciary shall not apply to an offence designated as a fine offence under any legislative provision or to an administrative offence the penalty for which is a fixed administrative fine.

Judge Who Is a Party to Civil Proceedings [s/26a]§
24.

Where a judge is a party to civil proceedings, the President of the Supreme Court shall determine the court that shall hear the proceedings.

Judge's Visit to a Prison§
24a.

During the first year of his or her tenure, a judge shall visit a prison or place of detention under the responsibility of the Israel Prison Service, and a judge who hears criminal proceedings shall also do so once every four years; upon completion of the visit, the judge shall notify the President of the court in which he or she serves.

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Chapter II: Courts

Section A: Supreme Court

Number of Judges [II/2]§
25.

The Supreme Court shall have judges in the number determined by the Knesset by decision.

Composition [II/3]§
26.

The Supreme Court shall sit in panels of three; however —

(1)the President of the Supreme Court or the Deputy President may, before the commencement of the hearing in a particular matter, direct that the hearing therein shall be before a larger odd number of judges;
(2)a panel that has commenced hearing a particular matter may direct that the continuation of the hearing therein shall be before a larger odd number of judges, including the judges who commenced the hearing;
(3)in applications for interlocutory orders, temporary orders and other interim decisions, as well as in applications for conditional orders, a single judge is competent to sit, but a single judge shall not be competent to refuse to grant a conditional order or to grant it on only some of its grounds;
(4)in an appeal against an interlocutory decision of a District Court, or against a judgment of a single judge in a District Court sitting on appeal against a judgment or a decision of a Magistrate's Court, except in an appeal as referred to in section 37(b)(9) and (10), a single judge is competent to sit;
(5)in a preliminary hearing of an appeal a single judge is competent to sit.
Determination of Panels and Dates [II/4]§
27.
(a)The judge or judges who are to hear a particular matter shall be determined by the President of the Supreme Court.
(b)The date on which the Supreme Court is to commence hearing a particular matter shall be determined by the President of the Supreme Court.
Presiding Judge [II/5a]§
28.
(a)The presiding judge in the Supreme Court shall be the person sitting in judgment who is first among the following:
(1)the President of the Supreme Court;
(2)the Deputy President of the Supreme Court;
(3)a former President of the Supreme Court, and if several former Presidents are sitting in judgment — the most senior among them, and among those of equal seniority — the eldest;
(4)a former Deputy President of the Supreme Court, and if several former Deputy Presidents are sitting in judgment — the most senior among them, and among those of equal seniority — the eldest;
(5)the most senior of the judges, and among those of equal seniority — the eldest.
(b)For the purposes of this section, seniority is reckoned according to the date of the judge's appointment to the Supreme Court.
Acting President of the Supreme Court [II/5]§
29.
(a)Where the office of President of the Supreme Court becomes vacant and until the new President has commenced serving, or where the President is absent from the country or is temporarily prevented from performing his duties, the Deputy President shall perform the duties imposed on the President and exercise the powers vested in him under any enactment.
(b)Where both the President of the Supreme Court and the Deputy President are prevented from performing their duties, the most senior of the judges of the Supreme Court shall serve as Acting President, and among those of equal seniority — the eldest.
(c)The President of the Supreme Court may delegate his powers to the Deputy President.
Further Hearing [II/8(a)–(c)]§
30.
(a)In a matter decided by the Supreme Court in a panel of three, the Supreme Court may decide, upon giving judgment, that the Supreme Court shall hold a further hearing therein before five or more judges.
(b)Where the Supreme Court has not so decided as referred to in subsection (a), any party may apply for a further hearing as aforesaid; the President of the Supreme Court or another judge or judges designated by him for this purpose may accede to the application if the legal ruling laid down by the Supreme Court contradicts a previous legal ruling of the Supreme Court, or if, by reason of the importance, difficulty or novelty of a legal ruling laid down in the matter, they consider that there is cause for a further hearing.
(c)In a decision given under subsection (a) or (b), the court or the judge may determine the issue to be considered in the further hearing, and having done so, the further hearing shall be conducted only on that issue.
Retrial [II/9(a)–(c)]§
31.
(a)The President of the Supreme Court, the Deputy President, or another judge of the Supreme Court designated by the President for this purpose may direct that the Supreme Court or a District Court designated for this purpose shall hold a retrial in a criminal matter that has been finally decided, if the President, Deputy President or judge is satisfied that one of the following has occurred:
(1)a court has ruled that evidence adduced in that matter was based on falsehood or forgery, and there are grounds to presume that but for that evidence there would have been cause to alter the outcome of the trial in favour of the convicted person;
(2)facts or evidence have been presented that, alone or together with the material that was before the court in the first instance, may alter the outcome of the trial in favour of the convicted person;
(3)another person has since been convicted of committing the same criminal act, and from the circumstances revealed in the trial of that other person it appears that the person first convicted of the offence did not commit it;
(4)a substantial concern has arisen that the conviction caused a miscarriage of justice to the convicted person.
(b)The right to apply for a retrial is vested in the convicted person and in the Attorney General; where the convicted person has died, the said right shall also be vested in the convicted person's spouse and in each of his descendants, parents, brothers or sisters.
(c)In a retrial, the Supreme Court or the District Court shall have all the powers vested in a District Court in criminal proceedings and all the powers vested in the Supreme Court in a criminal appeal, except the power to increase the sentence; the court may make any order that appears to it appropriate in order to compensate a convicted person who has served his sentence or part thereof and whose conviction has been set aside as a result of the retrial, or grant any other relief; where the convicted person has died, the court may make such an order for the benefit of another person.
(d)The President of the Supreme Court, the Deputy President, or another judge of the Supreme Court designated by the President for this purpose, or a panel as aforesaid, may, with the consent of the Attorney General, direct the acquittal of a convicted person if satisfied that one of the grounds for a retrial as referred to in subsection (a) has been fulfilled, but that in light of the circumstances of the matter there is no benefit in holding a retrial.
Referral of a Question by the Minister of Justice [II/10]§
32.
(a)Where an application has been submitted to the President of the State for the grant of a pardon or a reduction of sentence, and a question has arisen which the Minister of Justice considers worthy of hearing before the Supreme Court and which cannot serve as a ground for a retrial under section 31, the Minister of Justice may refer the question to the Supreme Court.
(b)The Supreme Court shall decide whether to hear a question referred to it under subsection (a); if it decides to hear it, it shall hear it as if the President of the Supreme Court had directed a retrial under section 31.

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