שי כהן אסיר ברח נמלט מ משטרה בית דין רבני ירושלים
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Rabbinical courts to offer mediation services
As part of a Justice Ministry reform, couples seeking a divorce or people involved in inheritance battles will be informed by courts of alternative form of dispute resolution.
Israel's rabbinical courts will be required to inform couples seeking a divorce or people involved in an inheritance battle about the option of mediation services.
The mediation option is not new, but so far the rabbinical courts have not been required to inform people about it.
The reform was announced recently by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Justice Ministry Director-General Emi Palmor in a bid to ease the divorce and inheritance process.
Civil Sanctions
Knesset considering new legislation under which Israeli rabbinical courts will have civil powers to place sanctions on men who have abandoned their wives, no matter where they are in the world.
The mediation procedure will be performed by social workers and psychologists who will attempt to mediate between the parties and resolve the dispute in a way both parties will agree to and reduce the tensions.
The parties involved in the dispute will not be forced to take the mediation option, and those who prefer to wage a "war" will be entitled to do so. The rabbinical court will have the last word at the end of the discussions.
"It is highly important to manage proceedings in rabbinical and sharia court in a sensitive and mediating manner, particularly family disputes in which there are high levels of friction and foot-dragging and which often end in violence," said Palmor.
The move is part of legislation promoted by Justice Minister Livni in a bid to end the rabbinical courts' divorce monopoly and give each party an equal opportunity to litigate in a family court first.
