Thursday, April 27, 2017

Israel: Which Courts Handle Hague Abduction Convention Cases?


From the article by Judge Benzion Greenberger, District Court of Jerusalem, Israel, in the 2014 edition of The Judges’ Newsletter:

“Regarding Hague Convention cases, these are heard in Family Court, and all Family Court judges are qualified to hear them. Thus, while there is no specific concentration vis-à-vis Hague cases, these are heard by a relatively limited number of judges in the country who specialize in family law, and who are therefore better qualified to be involved in this complex area of the law. A recent development worthy of note in this regard is the administrative decision of the Chief Judge of Jerusalem District Court, in which three-judge panels hear appeals from the Jerusalem Family Court, to empanel a specialized three judge panel for Hague Convention appeals specifically, and on which panel will sit the judge representing Israel in the Hague Convention Judges Network. This model has yet to be adopted in other districts in the country, but this promising development is a further indication of the trend toward concentration in Israel to date.”