Ayala Procaccia


Ayala Procaccia is a retired Israeli Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel. Before being elected to the Supreme Court in 2001, she served as a judge in the Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court until 1993 and in the Jerusalem District Court from 1993 to 2001. While active in the Israeli law courts, Ayala Procaccia worked to change Israeli law to champion equality for all, regardless of gender or religion. Proponents of Procaccia say that she strives for an equitable and just society; critics of her work said that she promoted a judicial dictatorship over the government.

Biography

Procaccia was born in Kibbutz Ashdot Ya'akov to a German father, Hanan Aynor, and a Polish mother, Yaffa Puterman-Efrat. She was an only child, and attended public schools in Tel Aviv.
Procaccia served in the Israel Defense Forces between 1959 and 1961. She graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with an LL.B. degree in 1963 and a master's degree in 1969. Following her graduation, she served as legal assistant to Chief Justice Shimon Agranat for four years. In 1969, she moved to the United States to pursue a Doctor of Juridical Science degree at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Upon her graduation in 1972, she returned to Israel and became the legal assistant to the Attorney General. In 1983, she was appointed legal adviser to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Israel. She was appointed judiciary in 1987, and served in both the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court and in the Jerusalem District Court until 2001. She supported the right of children in East Jerusalem and said that children's right to free education in East Jerusalem is not being met
In 2001 she was elected to the Supreme Court of Israel where she served until her retirement in 2011. In 2005, she appeared at Boston University, Harvard Law School, and Brandeis University, to lecture the Boston area about Israel’s democracy and human rights. Following her retirement, she said she planned to remain active. In 2023, she demonstrated this by calling for and partaking in a protest against the override clause, where people were worried that the Knesset would have too much power, should the bill be passed.
Procaccia was married to Uriel Procaccia and has two children, Oren and Yuval.

Court rulings

Procaccia's first supreme court case was in 2002, regarding soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces, and exemption of service for specific individuals, wherein the supreme court ruled to deny the petition, subjecting the individuals to serving in the military reserve service.
A notable court case in 2003, regarding the film Jenin, Jenin led to a supreme court ruling that it should not be censored in theaters, and the public should be able to make judgements for themselves.
In 2008, in the case "Center for Jewish Pluralism v. Ministry of Education", Procaccia ruled that the education system does not need to fund religious educational establishments.
Additionally, In 2011, Procaccia and two other justices ruled against a longstanding several-billion-dollar lawsuit in Clalit Health Services against tobacco companies, saying that rather than sue the tobacco industry, they should sue on behalf of each individual who was harmed. These justices did not deny that these tobacco companies have had a negative effect on the health of members of Clalit Health Services.
Her final ruling as a supreme court justice struck down an Interior Ministry regulation that made foreign workers lose their work permit on the occurrence of childbirth or pregnancy.
This concluded her work as a supreme court justice, and she was dismissed in a formal ceremony with the other supreme court justices, family, and friends, leaving her supreme court seat to be filled. This supreme court seat would be filled by Noam Sohlberg. The compiled list of supreme court cases with Procaccia is shown below.
Date of verdictName of the CaseSupreme Court's Verdict
December 30, 2002Zonstien v. Judge-Advocate GeneralPetition denied
January 9, 2003Faiglin v. CheshinPetition denied
January 23, 2003Association for Civil Rights in Israel v. Chairman of the Central Elections Committee for the Sixteenth KnessetPetition granted
May 15, 2003Mofaz v. Chairman of the Central Elections Committee for the Sixteenth KnessetAppeal denied
November 11, 2003Bakri v. Israel Film CouncilPetition granted
March 3, 2004SHIN, Israeli Movement for Equal Representation of Women v. Council for Cable TV and Satellite BroadcastingPetitions denied
March 4, 2004State of Israel v. Haggai YosefAppeal allowed
March 4, 2004Hass v. IDF Commander in West BankPetitions denied
June 14, 2004Solodkin v. Beit Shemesh MunicipalityPetitions denied
July 14, 2004A v. BAppeal denied
August 9, 2004Milo v. Minister of DefensePetition denied
October 26, 2004Fuchs v. Prime MinisterPetitions denied
November 22, 2004Ganis v. Ministry of Building and HousingPetition granted
March 31, 2005State of Israel v. PeretzPetition denied
April 4, 2005Design 22 Shark Deluxe Furniture Ltd. v. RosenzweigPetition denied
May 31, 2005Tais Rodriguez-Tushbeim v. Minister of InteriorPetition HCJ 2859/99 Granted, Petition HCJ 2597/99 dismissed
July 28, 2005Najar v. State of IsraelAppeal denied
September 15, 2005Mara’abe v. The Prime Minister of IsraelPetition granted
December 12, 2005Commitment to Peace and Social Justice Society v. Minister of FinancePetition denied
February 27, 2006Supreme Monitoring Committee for Arab Affairs in Israel and others v. Prime Minister of IsraelPetition granted
April 6, 2006Amir v. The Great Rabbinical Court in JerusalemPetition granted
May 4, 2006Yissacharov v. Chief Military ProsecutorAppeal allowed
May 14, 2006Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel v. Minister of InteriorPetition denied
June 13, 2006Dobrin v. Israel Prison ServicePetition denied
August 1, 2006Beilin v. Prime MinisterPetition denied
October 8, 2006State of Israel v. Beer-Sheba District CourtPetition granted
November 21, 2006Ben-Ari v. Director of Population AdministrationPetition granted
December 12, 2006Rosenbaum v. Israel Prison Service CommissionerPetitions granted
December 12, 2006Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel v. Minister of DefensePetition granted
February 6, 2007Galon v. Government Commission of InvestigationPetition denied
September 4, 2007Yassin v. Government of IsraelPetition granted
October 10, 2007Kav LaOved v. National Labour CourtPetition granted
December 6, 2007Emunah v. Prime MinisterPetition denied
June 11, 2008A v. State of IsraelAppeal denied
July 27, 2008Center for Jewish Pluralism v. Ministry of EducationPetition denied
August 20, 2008Hamifkad Haleumi v. Attorney GeneralPetition denied
March 24, 2009New Family v. Minister of Labor and WelfarePetition granted in part
July 21, 2009Boaron v. National Labour CourtPetitions denied
November 19, 2009Academic Center of Law and Business v. Minister of FinancePetition granted
February 11, 2010A v. State of IsraelAppeal allowed
February 22, 2010Daka v. Minister of the InteriorPetition granted
June 14, 2010Yekutieli v. Minister of Religious AffairsPetition granted
August 29, 2010Carmel Haifa Hospital v. Malul Appeal allowed
March 24, 2011District Committee of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa District Bar Association v. HalberstadtAppeal denied
April 28, 2011Bar-Ilan University v. National Labor CourtPetition denied
July 7, 2011Hotline for Migrant Workers v. Minister of DefenseAppeal denied
February 10, 2015Zoabi v. Knesset's Ethics CommitteePetition granted