Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Introduction The government’s lawyer
- 1 The Israeli legal system and the rise of judicial activism in the High Court of Justice
- 2 The High Court of Justice Department (HCJD): overview and history
- 3 Litigating for the government
- 4 The dilemma of serving two masters
- 5 Sorting things out: government lawyers in transformative litigation
- 6 The government lawyer as adjudicator: “pre-petitions” and the HCJD
- Conclusion
- Table of Cases
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - The High Court of Justice Department (HCJD): overview and history
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Introduction The government’s lawyer
- 1 The Israeli legal system and the rise of judicial activism in the High Court of Justice
- 2 The High Court of Justice Department (HCJD): overview and history
- 3 Litigating for the government
- 4 The dilemma of serving two masters
- 5 Sorting things out: government lawyers in transformative litigation
- 6 The government lawyer as adjudicator: “pre-petitions” and the HCJD
- Conclusion
- Table of Cases
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The purpose of this chapter is to present an overview of the High Court of Justice Department (HCJD). The department is part of the legal apparatus of the Israeli government. I shall first discuss briefly the general structure of this legal apparatus within the Ministry of Justice. I will then describe the institution of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the function of the attorney general. The HCJD is subject to the direct supervision of the attorney general. The historical development of the HCJD and its current status within the legal system were heavily influenced by the developments of the function of the attorney general. Therefore, the discussion of the OAG will be somewhat detailed. In the last part of this chapter I will present an overview of the department itself: its structure, its history, the career patterns of its members, and its working practices. This description will serve as an overview for the detailed discussion of the main functions of the department and its impact on public law litigation in Israel in the following chapters.
The bureaucratic framework
Overview: Government lawyering in Israel
Lawyers are an integral part of most governmental units in Israel. All the ministries of the government and state agencies have legal departments that are normally headed by their chief legal counselor. The functions of these departments are to assist the relevant bureaus by providing legal opinions in matters related to decision-making processes and by taking part in legislative and regulative procedures in which the ministries are involved.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Lawyering for the Rule of LawGovernment Lawyers and the Rise of Judicial Power in Israel, pp. 51 - 86Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013