Case Number

HCJ 2233/20

Date Decided

3-26-2020

Decision Type

Original

Document Type

Full Opinion

Abstract

HCJ 2233/20 Pardes Hanna-Karkur Local Council v. Ministry of Health; HCJ 2255/20 Ezra Manor v. Ministry of Health challenged the decision of the Ministry of Health to convert several departments in the Shoham Government Geriatric Center in Pardes Hanna-Karkur for the treatment of moderate to severe coronavirus patients. The Court (per Justice A. Stein, Justice G. Karra and Justice N. Sohlberg concurring) denied both petitions.

In HCJ 2233/20, the Court criticized the “not in my backyard” attitude of the Local Council, and held that “Shoham is a hospital that belongs to the State, and it may decide what goes on between its walls to the best of its professional discretion in order to treat patients that it – the State, and not the Pardes Hanna-Karkur Local Council – decides to hospitalize. That authority is granted the State by virtue of it general prerogative as an executive authority, by virtue of the provisions of the Public Health Ordinance in regard to the establishment and administration of hospital and other medical institutions in a state of emergency, by virtue of the provisions of the Interpretation Law concerning auxiliary powers… as well as by virtue of its being the owner of the hospital under discussion”.

In denying the petition in HCJ 2255/20, the Court recognized the Petitioners’ distress, but held that the State had struck a proper balance between the violation of the rights of the Petitioners and the expected harm to the general public. Citing Justice Vogelman’s decision in LAA 2199/20, the Court held that “in making this decision, the State exercised professional discretion, and its decision is certainly not disproportionate”

Keywords

COVID-19, Health

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