Feb 11, 2015 By: admin
Legal Website Provides English Translations of Decisions of The Israeli Supreme Court
樱花动漫's has announced a new website, , providing English translations of selected decisions of the Israeli high court. Versa is a unique resource that will increase awareness of how Israel鈥檚 high court rules on hundreds of cases, with important implications for democracy and international law. The site also includes essays and scholarly dialogue on the jurisprudence of the Court, the role of the Court in Israeli society, and on comparative approaches to the legal issues the Court has addressed.
The new website is part of the Israeli Supreme Court Project (ISCP) at Cardozo, which is devoted to disseminating, understanding, and engaging in academic discussions of the work of the Court.
鈥淐omparative legal study is daunting for many reasons, but the first and most obvious is that foreign legal materials are inaccessible because they are in a different language,鈥 said Michael Herz, co-director of the ISCP and The Arthur Kaplan Professor of Law at Cardozo Law. 鈥淲hen that language is Hebrew, these materials are invisible to almost everyone. Yet the Israeli Supreme Court is, in the words of U.S. Justice Stephen Breyer, 鈥榦ne of the world鈥檚 great legal institutions.鈥 We believe that making its opinions more generally available will benefit scholars, lawyers and judges around the world.鈥
The Versa site hosts over 200 English translations of selected opinions, as well as commentary and general information about the Court. The majority of the existing translations were produced by the Friends of the Library of the Supreme Court of Israel. That organization passed the torch to Cardozo in 2013. The ISCP expects to significantly increase the number and timeliness of translated opinions going forward.
鈥淭he launch of Versa is an exciting milestone, not only for the Cardozo Law community, but for the legal profession and academia as a whole,鈥 said Matthew Diller, dean of Cardozo. 鈥淐ardozo is honored to have played this role in developing such an important resource, and we look forward to seeing the continued growth of the project as it promotes awareness of the important work and decisions of the Supreme Court of Israel.鈥 Diller added that he is particularly grateful to outgoing President of the Court Asher Grunis for working with Cardozo to create a strong set of procedures for producing accurate and timely translations of decisions.
"I very much look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration with Cardozo on this important project,鈥 said Justice Miriam Naor, incoming president of the Supreme Court of Israel. 鈥淥ur Court has a long tradition of interest in and openness to jurisprudential developments in other countries; our own decision making has benefited enormously from such influences. In that spirit, making our own work more broadly available will, we hope, be of value to those outside this country. I thank outgoing President Grunis and our friends at the Cardozo School of Law for bringing this project to fruition.鈥
鈥淰ersa is a key component of the ISCP鈥檚 vision to become a leading center for the study of complex issues facing multi-cultural democracies around the world,鈥 said Suzanne Last Stone, professor of law at Cardozo and University Professor at 樱花动漫, who also directs the Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization.
鈥淚 am pleased to see that the Cardozo-Israel Supreme Court Project website, Versa, is up and running today," said Eliezer Rivlin, retired Justice and former deputy president of the Court. 鈥淚t is an important milestone for the Cardozo School of Law, at which I had the privilege of lecturing, as well as a great celebration for the Supreme Court of Israel. This marks a pinnacle portraying the cooperation of the legal systems of the United States of America and of the State of Israel. Versa is a well laid out and easily accessible website which will undoubtedly serve to promote awareness of the work and decisions of the Supreme Court of Israel.鈥
The ISCP and Versa were created with generous support from The David Berg Foundation, whose keen interest in the project is integral to its development and success.
