A 'Giraffe Lying on Its Nose': The Prosecutor Claimed Disrespect, the Commissioner Ruled - It's Allowed for a Judge
The Commissioner for Complaints Against Judges, retired Judge Asher Kola, dismissed a complaint against a Magistrate's Court judge who compared the prosecution's management in his ruling to the children's book 'Ayelet Travels'. The prosecutor claimed the style was mocking and disrespectful, but the commissioner ruled that using literature and poetry, including children's literature, is part of judicial freedom of expression and judicial independence, and that intervention in rulings would only occur in exceptional cases of clear harm. The magistrate expressed regret over the complainant's feelings and committed to reducing such usage in the future.
The Commissioner for Complaints Against Judges, retired Judge Asher Kola, dismissed a complaint filed by a prosecutor against a Magistrate's Court judge. The prosecutor argued that in his ruling, the judge compared the preparation and management of the prosecution to the children's book 'Ayelet Travels' by Rinat Hofer, using expressions and imagery of a mocking and disrespectful nature. The commissioner ruled that judges sometimes use references to literature and poetry, including children's literature, in their rulings, and that the ruling is a way to express the judge's voice and communicate with the parties. He stated that limiting judicial expression could harm the core of a judge's judicial independence, and intervention in rulings would be done sparingly and only in exceptional cases of clear and obvious harm to a person. The current case does not fall into these categories. The magistrate, in his response, argued that the use of quotes was intended to illustrate the lesson arising from the analysis of evidence through a literary-pictorial parable, not to mock the prosecutor. However, he expressed regret over her feelings and committed that from now on he would use quotes from children's literature only for the purpose of theoretical analysis of a legal question or illustrating a general factual situation.