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Judicial Discretion
English, Hebrew (translation)
270 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 1989
2 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Aharon Barak
19 books4 followersAharon Barak (Hebrew: אהרן ברק) is an Israeli lawyer and jurist who served as President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1995 to 2006. Prior to this, Barak served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1978 to 1995, and before this as Attorney General of Israel from 1975 to 1978.
Barak was born with the name of Erik Brick in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1936. Having survived the Holocaust, he and his family later immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1947. He studied law, international relations and economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and obtained his Bachelor of Laws in 1958. Between 1958 and 1960, he was drafted into the Israeli military.
From 1974 to 1975, Barak was dean of the law faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Barak is currently a law professor at Reichman University in Herzliya, and has taught at institutions including Yale Law School, Central European University, Georgetown University Law Center, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
Barak was born with the name of Erik Brick in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1936. Having survived the Holocaust, he and his family later immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1947. He studied law, international relations and economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and obtained his Bachelor of Laws in 1958. Between 1958 and 1960, he was drafted into the Israeli military.
From 1974 to 1975, Barak was dean of the law faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Barak is currently a law professor at Reichman University in Herzliya, and has taught at institutions including Yale Law School, Central European University, Georgetown University Law Center, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 9, 2022
Aharon Barak is the most important legal authority in Israel. He served as Dean of the Hebrew University Law Faculty, Legal Advisor to the Government and President of the Supreme Court. This is a must read for anyone who wishes to study the mind of a judge, especially the work of the Israeli Supreme Court.
June 17, 2024
A very good book on one of the most important concepts in law.
A. Barak attempts to describe the limits of judicial discretion, identifying several groups of limitations. Under the group of limitations which he calls “justice” he mentions the impartiality of the procedure, equal possibility to the parties, using the evidence presented to the court as a basis for the discretion, reasoning of the judicial decision (the last requirement, in his opinion is especially important). Substantive limitations, in the opinion of A. Barak, can be reduced to the thesis that the judge has the obligation to exercise the discretion reasonably. As the author remarks, the weight given to different considerations and the balance between them, which he or she seeks to strike, are the results of his personal experience and ideology as a judge.
In the opinion of A. Barak, the judge does not have a freedom to adopt the decision, which he personally regards as the best. The judge has to adopt the decision that will create a certain degree of coherence in existing system.
I can agree with this last thesis with a technical reservation. In my opinion, the judge has a possibility and at the same time, a duty to make the choice that he considers to be the best. However, “the degree of coherence”, which was mentioned by A. Barak, is an important factor to be considered among other factors in determining what decision is the best.
A. Barak attempts to describe the limits of judicial discretion, identifying several groups of limitations. Under the group of limitations which he calls “justice” he mentions the impartiality of the procedure, equal possibility to the parties, using the evidence presented to the court as a basis for the discretion, reasoning of the judicial decision (the last requirement, in his opinion is especially important). Substantive limitations, in the opinion of A. Barak, can be reduced to the thesis that the judge has the obligation to exercise the discretion reasonably. As the author remarks, the weight given to different considerations and the balance between them, which he or she seeks to strike, are the results of his personal experience and ideology as a judge.
In the opinion of A. Barak, the judge does not have a freedom to adopt the decision, which he personally regards as the best. The judge has to adopt the decision that will create a certain degree of coherence in existing system.
I can agree with this last thesis with a technical reservation. In my opinion, the judge has a possibility and at the same time, a duty to make the choice that he considers to be the best. However, “the degree of coherence”, which was mentioned by A. Barak, is an important factor to be considered among other factors in determining what decision is the best.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews