Case Number
HCJ 5936/97
Date Decided
9-2-1999
Decision Type
Original
Document Type
Full Opinion
Abstract
Facts: Diagnosticians of children’s learning disabilities and a nonprofit organization representing them challenged a decision by the Ministry of Education to cease recognizing diagnoses of learning disabilities, generally conducted for students seeking eligibility for special governmental conditions and services, unless the diagnoses are conducted by educational psychologists. Petitioners alleged that the decision violated the Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation.
Held: The decision to cease recognizing diagnoses conducted by the petitioners violates the freedom of occupation and does so neither by force of a statute nor or in accordance with any statute, by virtue of express authorization therein, as required by the Basic Law. The Education Ministry is the primary consumer of educational diagnoses and as such, its decision to stop recognizing the diagnoses effectively prevents the petitioners from working in that field, constituting an infringement on the freedom of occupation. This infringement is not authorized by statute, as the relevant statutes make no mention of the diagnosis of learning disabilities or of the standards by which they are to be recognized. The decision is also invalid because it did not include transitional provisions required in light of the reliance and legitimate expectation interests of the petitioners and others.
Keywords
Administrative Law -- Discretion, Constitutional Law -- Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation, Constitutional Law -- Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, Education -- Discrimination, Education -- Right to Education
