Judicial Complaints Commissioner: Nonurgent rulings should not be issued on Shabbat

Public Complaints Commissioner for Judges Asher Kula issued a principle-based ruling on Thursday after a complaint that a judge signed a legal decision during Shabbat. Kula stressed that the justice system must respect the Sabbath and said, clearly, that decisions that are not essential should not be issued on the day of rest.

The case began when a Sabbath-observant lawyer, who was serving in reserve duty, had to keep his phone available for operational needs. During Shabbat he received an alert from the Net HaMishpat court system, opened the device thinking it was an urgent military matter, and discovered that it was a technical ruling signed by a judge. He said the incident caused him deep pain and offended his religious feelings, but he was not seeking personal punishment and wanted the system to learn from the episode.

In his response to the complaints office, the judge said he does not observe Shabbat and routinely works on weekends because of heavy workload. He said the ruling was technical and was signed without noticing that Shabbat had not yet ended. He expressed regret for the lawyer's injury and proposed a systemic fix that would prevent automatic transmission of nonurgent decisions during Shabbat.

Kula said the judge should have anticipated that observant lawyers would receive such alerts, but accepted that the act was a good-faith mistake rather than disrespect. Because of the apology and the judge's recognition of the issue, the personal complaint was dismissed. Still, Kula urged the Director of the Courts to refresh instructions barring judges from signing decisions on Shabbat except when necessary, and separately criticized four copied public complaints that were circulated to the media before the affected lawyer was even approached.