A. v. Haifa Rabbinical Court

The legal question is whether the Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice should intervene in the ruling of the Great Rabbinical Court or not. The husband (“respondent 3”) owned an apartment and had no intention of sharing the ownership with the petitioner in a divorce case, which was first submitted to the Regional Rabbinical Court. The Regional Rabbinical Court ( “respondent 2”) decided that the petitioner had a part in the ownership based on the Presumption of Community or Joint Property while the Great Rabbinical Court (“the appellate court”) overturned this decision on appeal. The petitioner argued that the appellate court exceeded its power because it considered the petitioner’s infidelity in deciding the issue of residential home co-ownership, which was in the field of religious law. Specifically, the appellate court found that respondent 3’s intention to own the property in partnership with his wife was “mistaken” and he was “deceived and misled,” which voided his intention.  In a 2-1 decision, the court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, denied the petition because the court was confined to determining the question of competence and to correcting fundamental errors in the appellate process. In a lengthy opinion, the dissenting justice argued that the appellate court improperly applied religious law – which applies to marriage and divorce – to property law, which governs marital property. The dissenting justice argued that the court had grounds to interfere in the appellate judgment and uphold the petitioner’s claim to rights in the disputed property.

Topics

• Divorce and dissolution of marriage
• Property and inheritance rights

Geographical location

• Asia
• Israel

Keywords

• Jewish law
• joint property
• property rights; religious law; Jewish law; jurisdiction

Year

• 2018

External URL

• A. v. Haifa Rabbinical Court

Court

• High Court of Justice

Type

• Domestic Case Law

Jurisdiction

• Israel