12-02-23 The Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, the legal profession, and corruption of the electronic records of the courts in the State of Israel

It is inconceivable that the senior financial officers of a large corporation or a government ministry would refuse to sign any financial reports of their agencies for a decade, and the senior executive officers of the respective agencies would only file reports under the disclaimer, 'subject to changes.' But the Supreme Court's records have not been certified by the Chief Clerk of the Supreme Court for almost a decade, and all decisions of the Supreme Court are published subject to changes.
Critical events, related to corruption of the electronic records of the courts of the State of Israel, took place in the period of 2001-3 and involved US based corporations IBM and EDS.  Conduct of the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, the Israeli Bar Association and NGOs in subsequent years amounts to systemic failure of the legal profession in the State of Israel. 
Any proposed solution would have to draw upon other civil society agents, most likely - computing experts and religious leaders.  Allowing current conditions to prevail is likely to result in widespread corruption of the justice system.

 
Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch, Chief Clerk Sarah Lifschitz, Supreme Court of the State of Israel

View as PDF, including Table Summary and links to records: http://www.scribd.com/doc/82597082/

Jerusalem, February 23 - "The most striking events, relative to corruption of the electronic records of the Supreme Court of the State of Israel, took place in 2001-3," says Joseph Zernik, PhD, of Human Rights Alert (NGO), "The conduct of the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, the Israeli Bar Association, and relevant NGOs in subsequent years amounts to a systemic failure of the legal profession."

The Judiciary and the Supreme Court: The rhetoric regarding 'constitutional rights' is inconsistent with the failure to comply with the fundamentals of due process.

Conduct of the judiciary was largely reconstructed from the discontinuities in certification patterns of the Supreme Court's decisions between 2001-2003:  In the transition to a new electronic record system (ELYON2), a dispute erupted between the justices/magistrates and the Chief Clerk of the Supreme Court. The core of the dispute, as it appears from the records, is in the desire of the justices to be able to modify decisions after their "entry" (Rishum).  The new system enabled the direct entry of records by the justices, bypassing the Chief Clerk.  Likewise, the new system enabled the retroactive modification of records by the justices, after the records had already been entered.  Under such circumstances, the Chief Clerk was left in a position that he could not certify any definite record as the "original" for a "true copy."  In a more fundamental level the dispute was over control of the records and the duty and authority of the Chief Clerk as the custodian of the records..  In practice, the dispute was over the ultimate administrative authority for the servers of the Supreme Court. 

In the middle of this dispute Chief Clerk Shmaryahu Cohen died in office.  Within days a Rasham (magistrate judge) started substituting for the Chief Clerk.  Such substitution was permitted by law, but the Rasham certified the records of the Supreme Court anonymously, with no mention of his/her name, and the evidence shows numerous records missing or bearing false dates and/or certificates.

Starting January 2003, no certification and no mention of the Chief Clerk appears on the records of the Supreme Court, although a new Chief Clerk had already been appointed.

The online publication by the Judicial Authority of a false and deliberately misleading apostille certification procedure is of particular significance.  A reasonable person would conclude that the procedure was intended to simulate compliance with the Hague Convention (1961).

It is impossible that any of the justices of the Supreme Court was and is unaware of the underlying issues.  The underlying issues have affected the daily routine of the Supreme Court for a decade.

Such conduct by the justices of the Supreme Court took place during the same years that the Supreme Court launched a campaign of evolving 'constitutional rights' in Israel.  The rhetoric of 'constitutional rights', most notably in Israeli Civil Rights Association v Minister of Justice, is inconsistent with failure of the Supreme Court to uphold the fundamentals of due process - honest and transparent court records, and due notice and service of judicial orders and decisions.

The evidence shows that the Supreme Court today routinely publishes online simulated records, and arbitrarily conducts simulated review of entire cases.  Such conduct violates the fundamental Human Rights of access to national tribunals for protection of rights, and for fair hearings.

The Ministry of Justice: Resigned to corruption of the electronic records of the courts as a permanent condition.

Particularly intriguing is the sequence of events of 2003-5:
o       In 2001-3 discontinuities are found in the certification of the Supreme Court's electronic records, which were followed by disappearance altogether of the certifications by the Chief Clerk of the Supreme Court on the individual electronic records.
o       In 2003-4 new Regulations of the Courts were promulgated by the Ministry of Justice, pertaining to public access to court records, the duties and authority of the Office of the Clerk.

The new Regulations could appear as intended to enhance the authority of the offices of the clerks and public access to court records.  However, in pertinent part the Regulations say:
5. Mechanical Systems
Any directive in these regulations shall be complied with in any mechanical or electronic
system of the courts, with necessary modifications, following instructions of the Director of the Administration of the Courts.

In paragraph 5, the Regulations authorized the Director of the office of Administration of the Courts to modify the Regulations in an unchecked manner.  The legal system of the State of Israel does not permit any promulgation by the Judicial Authority, and no lawful procedure has been established for the promulgation or publication of such regulations.  Paragraph 5, above, should be considered equivalent to the controversial Rule Making Enabling Act (28 USC 2071-7) in the United States.  

o       In 2005, the Regulations were amended, again appearing to enhance the authority of the office of the clerk as custodian of the court's records, and the chief clerks as the ones authorized to certify the decisions. 

However, by 2012, the electronic records of the courts are maintained in servers on corporate grounds in Herzlia, and the Chief Clerk of the Supreme Court refuses to certify the judicial records of the Supreme Court.

o       Around 2009-12, a new apostille certification procedure was published online by the Judicial Authority, with no valid legal foundation. 
-        The procedure required joint, convoluted implementation by the Judicial Authority and the Ministry of Justice.
-        The procedure was intended to circumvent the refusal of the Clerk of the Supreme Court to certify the decisions of the Supreme Court (and possibly similar refusal by other chief clerks), and to simulate compliance with the Hague Convention (1961).

The publication of the fraudulent apostille certification procedure demonstrates the resignation of the Ministry of Justice to conditions, where the electronic records of the courts are permanently corrupt.

The Israeli Bar Association and some NGOs: Unsuccessful opposition

The Israeli Bar Association obtained in 2003 a consent judgment by the Supreme Court against the Minister of Religious Affairs, mandating that the rabbinical courts comply with the law of the State of Israel relative to due process notice and service of court orders and decisions. 

The evidence shows that the Supreme Court today does not comply with the same provisions of the law.

The evidence also shows persistent opposition by the Israeli Bar Association to the implementation of Net Ha-Mishpat electronic record system in the district courts.  In particular, the Israeli Bar Association opposed the changes in established court procedures, which were unilaterally implemented in the system by the Judicial Authority.

Likewise, the Israeli Civil Rights Association, a notable NGO, was engaged for over a decade in litigation before the Supreme Court against the Ministry of Justice, relative to restrictions that were promulgated in the Regulations of the Courts on public access to court records.  The restriction were promulgated in conjunction with implementation of the electronic record systems.  The judgment by Presiding Justice Dorit Beinisch, in favor of the Ministry of Justice, permitting the restricting regulations elaborated on numerous 'constitutional rights'. 

The Israel Democracy Institute, another notable NGO, or some of its key personnel, were involved as consultants to the State of Israel government on matters related to electronic record systems.

It is unlikely that none of the senior attorneys appearing before the Supreme Court, or involved in international law, have noticed the corruption of the records and the missing Chief Clerk's certifications.

US corporate involvement

The Ombudsman's report did not name the corporations, who were involved in development of the electronic record systems of the courts of the State of Israel.  However, media identified the corporations as Teldor, EDS, and IBM. 

Media reported that IBM and EDS were involved in corruption of governments elsewhere in the world.

The scope of the problem and potential solutions

Over the past decade, unknown number of Supreme Court records have been falsified, and unknown number of fraudulent Hague Convention apostille certifications have been issued.  The integrity of the electronic records was undermined by the judiciary.  However, other government branches and the legal profession at large failed to stop the process.

The conditions, now prevailing in the Supreme Court reflect a failure of the legal profession as a class.  Had there been a constitution in the State of Israel, conditions should have been considered a 'constitutional crisis.'   Therefore, any proposed solution should attempt to draw upon civil society agents from other walks of life - e.g., computing experts, or religious leaders.  If current conditions are permitted to prevail, widespread corruption of the justice system should be expected.

Similar events took place in the United States a decade or two earlier, and are tightly linked to the current financial and constitutional crises there, with widespread criminality by large corporations, which is repeatedly "settled" by the courts.  Involvement of the US-based corporations IBM and EDS in events related to the electronic records of the Israeli courts is particularly alarming, as is the speed at which the Israeli courts imitated corrupt practices of the United States courts. 
________
Joseph Zernik, PhD
Human Rights Alert (NGO)
 
The 2010 submission of Human Rights Alert to the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the United Nations was reviewed by the HRC professional staff and incorporated in the official HRC Professional Staff Report with a note referring to "corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California." 
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Take away justice, then, and what are governments but great bandit bands?
Saint Augustine, Civitas Dei (City of God,4.4)
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