Recent Events

Remarks at a Conference Marking the Retirement of President Grunis

Deputy President Emeritus Eliezer Rivlin

June 21, 2015

Translated by Orly Rachmilovitz

In an event held in a Supreme Court courtroom upon the retirement of President Dorit Beinisch and the beginning of the Justice Asher Grunis’ term as President, I congratulated them both and expressed my confidence that President Grunis would safely sail the Court through troubled waters to a safe haven.

In a landmark decision handed down in April, Avneri v. The Knesset, HCJ 5239/11, the Israeli Supreme Court upheld the bulk of the Anti-Boycott Law while striking down one important provision. That law, passed in 2011, empowers the finance minister to fine, withhold funding from, or bring suits for damages against Israeli NGOs that call for boycotts of businesses in Israel.

Swearing-in Ceremony for President of the Supreme Court, Justice Miriam Naor, and Farewell to President of the Supreme Court, President Asher Grunis

The President’s Residence, January 15, 2015

Remarks by

Miriam Naor, President of the Supreme Court

Translated by Orly Rachmilovitz

Swearing-in Ceremony for President of the Supreme Court, Justice Miriam Naor, and Farewell to President of the Supreme Court, President Asher Grunis

The President’s Residence, January 15, 2015

Remarks by

Asher Grunis, President of the Supreme Court

Translated by Orly Rachmilovitz

          The recent retirement of President Asher Grunis would probably not be viewed by the legal community in Israel as the end of an era in the history of the Supreme Court. Justice Grunis has always been considered a sophisticated and cautious jurist who specialized in private law. It is also a well-known fact that during his short three-year tenure as President he focused primarily on procedural reforms in order to deal with the heavy caseload pressures on the judicial system.

On January 15th, Miriam Naor was officially appointed Israel’s 11^th Supreme Court President, replacing Asher D. Grunis. She will serve until September 2017, when she will reach the mandatory judicial retirement age of 70.

On December 14, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition by Gaza’s citizens to enter Israel in order to handle lawsuits against the State. The State Prosecutor specifically differentiated between strictly humanitarian cases, which residents of Gaza are permitted to litigate, and civil claims, which is what the petition had asked for.