Case Number
HCJ 205/94
Date Decided
1-19-1997
Decision Type
Original
Document Type
Full Opinion
Abstract
Facts: The petitioner, who had been growing a beard for many years, requested to exchange his protective kit and gas mask, which had been provided to him before the 1991 Gulf War, for a new kit, designed for those with beards. In order to obtain the special kit, the Civil Defense Authority required the petitioner to sign a statement that he grew a beard for religious reasons, in accordance with the applicable Civil Defense Regulations. The petitioner, who was not a religious man, refused to sign the statement. The petitioner appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the regulations were unconstitutional, as they discriminated between those who grew beards for religious reasons, and those who grew beards for reasons unrelated to religious conviction.
Held: The Court held that the right to grow a beard forms a part of one's human dignity, regardless of whether that beard is grown for religious reasons. As with any other right that forms a part of human dignity, the right to grow a beard is protected under the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. As such, the right can only be infringed in accordance with the conditions set out by the limitations clause of the Basic Law—that the infringement be expressly set out in a statute, that it accord with the values of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and that it not infringe the protected right more than necessary. The Court held that the applicable regulation did not meet these conditions and, as such, was unconstitutional.
Petition granted.
Keywords
Constitutional Law -- Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty
