Case Number
HCJ 5444/13
Date Decided
12-17-2014
Decision Type
Original
Document Type
Full Opinion
Abstract
The Special Conversion Court revoked the conversion of the Petitioner two years after she was converted by the court, primarily due to doubt as to the sincerity of the Petitioner’s intentions at the time of her conversion. The petition addressed the question of the competence of the Special Conversion Court to order the annulment of a conversion of a person whom it converted.
The High Court of Justice (per Justice N. Hendel, Deputy President M. Naor and Justice E. Hayut concurring) held:
At the relevant time, the Special Conversion Court’s authority to revoke the conversion of a person it had converted was not established by statute or regulation. However, the High Court of Justice held that just as a civil court has inherent power to set aside a final judgment– in rare, exceptional cases – so does the Special Conversion Court. In regard to judgments in civil cases, the causes for setting aside a judgment are very limited. Foremost among them is fraud, i.e., where the court is convinced that its original decision was based upon an act of deceit – for example, the presenting of incorrect information by one of the litigants. In the present procedural framework, the Court did not see fit to establish a list of concrete causes upon which the Special Court might revoke a conversion. Rather, it addressed only to the concrete case of the Petitioner, in which the Special Court acted in fundamental good faith in reaching the factual conclusion that the original judgment – the Petitioner’s conversion – was granted on the basis of misrepresentation, and that she actually had never intended to undertake religious observance. Under these circumstances, the Special Court’s power to revoke its judgment should not be denied. It was emphasized that this decision relates only to a conversion obtained by fraud. It should not be concluded from this judgment that the Special Conversion Court’s power to revoke conversions extends to other cases.
Keywords
Jewish Law -- Conversion, Jewish Law -- Rabbinical Courts
