'A Giraffe Stuck on the Nose': The Prosecutor Claimed Disrespect, the Ombudsman Ruled – This Is Allowed for a Judge
The Commissioner for Complaints Against Judges, retired Judge Asher Kula, dismissed a complaint against a Magistrate's Court judge who compared the prosecution's conduct in his ruling to the children's book 'Ayelet Metayeleth'. The prosecutor alleged a mocking and condescending style, but the commissioner ruled that the use of literature and poetry, including children's literature, is part of judicial freedom of expression and judicial independence, and that intervention in rulings would occur only in exceptional cases of clear harm. The magistrate expressed regret over the complainant's feelings and pledged to reduce such usage in the future.
The Commissioner for Complaints Against Judges, retired Judge Asher Kula, dismissed a complaint filed by a prosecutor against a Magistrate's Court judge. The prosecutor claimed that in his ruling, the judge compared the preparation and management of the prosecution to the children's book 'Ayelet Metayeleth' by Rinat Hofer, using expressions and imagery of a mocking and condescending 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 of expressing the judge's voice and communicating with the parties. He stated that restricting 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 cases. 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. Nevertheless, he expressed regret over her feelings and pledged 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.