Acting High Court chief orders probe into leaking of landmark ‘reasonableness’ ruling

Acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman sets up an internal investigation into the leaking of a draft of the landmark ruling by the High Court of Justice on the government’s reasonableness limitation bill in December.

In an unprecedented leak of a High Court decision, parts of the explosive ruling were passed to Channel 12 News in late December last year, leading to accusations that the leak was politically motivated.

The investigative team examining the incident will be made up of the recently retired director of the Israel Courts Administration, Judge Michael Spitzer, former head of investigations in the Shin Bet Haggai Avimor, and another former head of investigations in the Shin Bet, Eyal Dagan. Judge Keren Azulai, a registrar on the Supreme Court, will serve as the team coordinator.

The three-member investigative team will examine “physical and technological work procedures” in the court; how the draft was leaked; how it might be possible to limit the number of court employees who have access to such documents; and how oversight over protecting them can be increased.

The investigative team will interview Supreme Court justices and employees, among others, and should the investigation raise concerns of any violation of the law or disciplinary procedures, the matter will be passed to the relevant authorities, Vogelman writes in his letter to the team members.

He adds that all justices on the court have supported the establishment of the internal investigation. The team is requested to file an interim report by May 1.