Ethics Committee Redraws the Boundaries for Judges
The Judges' Ethics Committee ruled that there is an ethical prohibition against allowing a judge to lecture at a training program of the Israel Bar Association's publishing house, which operates as a for-profit company. The decision was made following a request from a court president, and distinguishes between the public activity of the bar association and the commercial activity of its publishing house.
The Judges' Ethics Committee ruled today (Monday) that there is an ethical prohibition against allowing a judge to lecture as part of a training program of the Israel Bar Association's publishing house. The decision was made following a request from a court president who sought to clarify whether the lecture could be approved. At the heart of the decision was the fact that the publishing house operates as a for-profit company. The committee's starting point allows judges to participate in professional activities outside the courthouse, according to Rule 29 of the Code of Ethics for Judges. The committee has previously ruled that there is no prohibition against judges participating in training programs of the Bar Association and its institutions. However, in the current case, a fundamental difference was found: the training program is not presented as a regular Bar Association program, but as one taking place within its publishing house. The committee clarified that the prohibition is not absolute in every situation where a commercial entity is involved. When the training program is of a public body and the commercial company provides only a technical and administrative framework, a different conclusion can be reached. As an example, a previous decision regarding the "Nevo" publishing house was mentioned, where its role was limited to providing a technical framework for a course of the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. In the current case, no further details were provided about the nature of the training program or the identity of the participants, so the ethical prohibition was established.