This section deals with procedure at district rabbinical courts and at the Greater Rabbinical court that deals with appeals from the former.
Rabbinical Court – Service of Pleas
Question:
How are pleas filed at a rabbinical court normally served ?
Answer:
Since January 2003 rabbinical courts in Israel started serving pleas by sending them out by registered post with acceptance slips, following a Supreme Court of Justice ruling.
Attendance At Rabbinical Court Hearings
Question :
Does a husband with a busy schedule necessitating frequent travel abroad , have to attend every hearing at his divorce proceedings at the rabbinical court, even though he has appointed a lawyer to represent him ?
Answer:
Yes! Under the Rabbinical Court Regulations the parties are bound to attend every session, even if they are represented by a lawyer, unless the rabbinical court decides that one or both of them need not attend some or all of the hearings.
It is possible to ask for a hearing set for a particular date to be changed and, depending on the reason given, the rabbinical court may agree. For example, where a hearing date falls when one of the party’s is due to be abroad on business he may ask for a different date. If the other party agrees to the session being changed this will increase the chances of the rabbinical court agreeing. However, if the other side objects and the rabbinical court considers the application a delaying tactic unfairly aimed at the other side, it will probably reject the request.
Plea Struck Out For Non-Attendance At Hearing
Question:
What happens if neither side turns up to give evidence at a hearing before the rabbinical court?
Answer:
According to the Rabbinical Court Regulations, where neither party turns up at a session after having been invited to attend, the rabbinical court can defer the hearing, without setting a date, or it can strike out the plea. Usually it can only strike out the plea after both sides are given an opportunity to react in writing within 30 days but it has discretion to do so even if it does not inform the parties about the striking out or they do not react in writing.
Wife Files For Cancellation of Rabbinical Exit Order
Question :
Can a wife whose marriage is in a mess and whose husband has filed
for marital reconciliation (‘Shlom Bayit’) plea at the rabbinical court, cancel an order he tricked it into grant without her knowing, preventing her and her children from going abroad to visit her elderly parents overseas and to 'take a break', claiming she planned to meet a 'lover'?
Answer:
The first option when fighting an ex-parte exit order made by the rabbinical court is to file for its cancellation. If the district rabbinical court fails to cancel the order when a hearing is held before both parties, the party against whom the order has been made can apply to the Greater Rabbinical Court for permission to appeal against this decision. If permission is refused, or the appeal rejected after permission to appeal is granted, the only option is to petition to the Supreme Court of Justice.
In the Lev case the Supreme Court of Justice was faced with a petition from the wife concerning a rabbinical court decision to place an exit order preventing her leaving Israel. The husband had claimed his wife planned to meet a lover in the states while she denied this, saying that she wanted to take her daughter on a ‘Bat Mitzvah’ trip and combine it with some business. She had filed for divorce after her husband had filed for martial reconciliation. The wife asked the district rabbinical court to cancel the order but it refused and set another hearing. The wife applied to the Greater Rabbinical Court for permission to appeal against the district court’s decision but this was rejected – hence the petition. The wife succeeded in the petition - the Supreme Court of Justice held that the decision making process of the rabbinical court had been faulty and it not acted within its powers .
Challenging Rabbinical Court Judgment – Reduced Panel of Judges
Question:
Is it possible that a rabbinical court can pass judgment on a legal dispute when only two of the original three religious judges were present ?
Answer:
Yes – it happens in practice, though the judgment will not be valid, as it was not given by three religious judges, as is required. If given, such a judgment is can be cancelled on appeal to the Greater Rabbinical Court or by petitioning to the Supreme Court of Justice. A panel which is “missing” a judge contravenes the law if the issue in question is disputed.
Greater Rabbinical Court Free to Change Panel of Judges
Question:
Does a person have a right to object to the fact that a Greater Rabbinical Court is about to start a hearing with a changed panel of religious judges - without having given prior notice to the parties, or getting their consent ?
Answer:
No ! A Change in the panel of rabbinical court judges does not require prior notice or agreement.
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