Dorit Beinisch proposes a revolution in the judicial system: "The structure where everything flows to the Supreme Court is no longer suitable"

Former Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch calls for establishing an additional appellate court between the district courts and the Supreme Court to reduce the burden and allow the Supreme Court to focus on principled issues. She criticized the judicial reform, which she said did not examine the system's needs and was intended to weaken it.

Former Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch calls for establishing an additional appellate court in Israel between the district courts and the Supreme Court, as part of a comprehensive structural change in the judicial system. In a conversation on the podcast "Principles of Management" of Tel Aviv 360, the podcast channel of Tel Aviv University, Beinisch said that this move would significantly reduce the burden on the Supreme Court and focus more of its work on principled legal issues. Beinisch explained that currently thousands of civil and criminal appeals reach the Supreme Court, many of which deal with factual clarification rather than principled questions. She noted that Israel has far fewer judges than is common in OECD countries, creating an unbearable burden. According to her, all thousands of civil and criminal appeals should go to the appellate court, and only cases with principled questions would reach the Supreme Court. However, she clarified that she is not proposing a model where the Supreme Court hears only a few dozen cases a year, as in the US with about 80 cases. "Between 80 and 1,000, one can reach something reasonable," she said. She added that exposure to cases from lower courts allows the Supreme Court to identify systemic problems. Beinisch pointed to complementary steps: increasing the number of judges and resources, removing proceedings that do not require judicial decision, and expanding mediation. She criticized the judicial reform, arguing that its leaders did not examine the system's needs and intended a regime reform.

Dorit Beinisch proposes a revolution in the judicial system: "The structure where everything flows to the Supreme Court is no longer suitable"