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15 Kislev 5764 - December 10, 2003 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Chief Rabbinate Courts Move to Justice Ministry Jurisdiction on January 1st
by Eliezer Rauchberger

"The Chief Rabbinate Courts will be transferred to Justice Ministry authority on January 1, 2004," declared Justice Minister Yosef Lapid in a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee to discuss his ministry's budget.

"There will not be any attempt on my part to interfere with the rulings of the rabbis at the rabbinical courts," he proclaimed. "I have not considered interfering with the decisions of the Chief Rabbinate Courts, just as I have not considered interfering with the decisions of the courts. The rabbis have nothing to fear. They will continue to rule according to the din."

Lapid also said he wants "to assure the public there is no basis for previously raised concern following the transfer of the Chief Rabbinate Courts to my jurisdiction," claiming "the storm winds in the rabbinical courts have already subsided. Therefore the transition will be orderly, proper, and I will even see to it that all of the concerns raised against me prove unfounded."

Lapid's remarks were made in response to a question submitted by MK Eli Aflalo (Likud). "It may be that the rabbinical courts should be under you at the Ministry of Justice," he said, "but we still recall your statements during the elections. People now have to swallow this change, including the dayanim at the Chief Rabbinate Courts. Therefore, in your case I think one must not only be right, but also smart."

Responding to Lapid's remarks MK Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz said, "We do not realize how grave the times we live in are. We have gotten used to accepting everything they say easily, for in the end `they won't do this anyway.' But the new reality is slapping us in the face. Everything they say for the worse comes true. I suggest we all be prepared and cautious. We must realize we are in a state of difficult decrees that are destined to come true and we must come to our senses in order to see what can be rectified."

Regarding Lapid's claims he would not interfere with rulings Ravitz said he may or may not keep his word, "but one of the difficult problems is the appointments committees, and I did not hear him address this."

At the meeting Lapid also spoke on other issues. He referred to the disruptions at the land registry office as "one of the less welcome strikes, and we are helpless against it." On the issue of government pardons, he reported his ministry receives 2,000 requests for pardons annually of which only 2 percent are honored.

Justice Ministry Director-General Aharon Avramovich reported that the police department of internal investigations receives 6,300 complaints against policemen annually. In a survey of 1,611 complaints, 206 led to criminal charges, 236 led to disciplinary hearings/proceedings, 389 cases were found not guilty, in 567 cases the file was closed due to lack of evidence, in three cases the file was closed because the policeman passed away and one case exceeded the statute of limitations. About 200 cases are not accounted for here.

 

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