Case Number

HCJ 2324/11

Date Decided

4-26-2011

Decision Type

Original

Document Type

Full Opinion

Abstract

Facts: On 9 March 2011, the Minister of Education announced that Advocate Shimon Mizrahi would be awarded the 2011 Israel Prize in the field of sports, upon the recommendation of the Israel Prize Judging Committee. The members of the Judging Committee were Tal Brody, an renowned basketball player who had played for the Maccabee Tel-Aviv basketball team, and who was awarded the Israel Prize in 1979, Gili Lustig, the head of the competitive sports section of the Israel Olympic Committee and a coach of the Israel All-Star volleyball team, and Esther Roth-Shachamorov, a celebrated athlete who had represented Israel at the 1976 Olympic Games, and who was awarded the Israel Prize in 1999. The Petitioners asked that the Court annul the decision, arguing that Brody had acted under a conflict of interests because Advocate Mizrahi had served for many years as the chairman of the Maccabee Tel Aviv basketball team, and he and Brody were professionally and socially acquainted.

Held: In rejecting the petition, the Court held that the scope of Court’s intervention in decisions concerning the granting of the Israel Prize should be significantly limited, particularly in regard to claims regarding the worthiness of the recipients. Restraint should also be exercised in regard to claims addressing the award procedures.

The choice of recipients of the Israel Prize is almost entirely non-justiciable, and should be treated, mutatis mutandis, in accordance with the provisions of section 33 of the Contracts (General Part) Law, 5733-1973. The choice of recipients of the Israel Prize involves a significant subjective element. The greater the subjective component of the decision, the narrower the scope of judicial review.

As for conflicts of interest, the members of each judging committee must be people who are well acquainted with the particular field. It is but natural that the members of the committee will be people from that field or related fields. It is hard to imagine that those qualified to serve on the judging committee would not be acquainted with the candidates. If the Court were to adopt a broad approach to conflicts of interest in this regard, it might not be possible to find any person in Israel qualified to serve on an Israel Prize committee. A broad approach in regard to conflicts of interest might also limit the pool of appropriate candidates for the prize, inasmuch as an acquaintance between a member of the committee and a potential candidate would result in the disqualification of the candidate, regardless of his achievements.

Although, the Court should adopt a restricted approach to judicial review of decisions in regard to the Israel Prize, not all such decisions are immune to review. The Court would certainly address issues of corruption or serious flaws in the conduct of the judging committee or the Minister of Education, even if the petitioner had no direct interest in the petition.

The Court was divided on the question of whether petitions such as this justified revisiting the issue of the standing of petitioners who lack a direct interest.

Keywords

Administrative Law -- Standing, Administrative Law -- Judicial review, Justiciability; Ethics -- Conflict of interest

Share

COinS