Individual remedy granted, HCJ orders withdrawal of petition to revoke the section stipulating a waiting period for marriage registration, HCJ 3442/14 Hamamdeh v. Ministry of Interior
May 14, 2014
On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, ordered the withdrawal of a petition filed by Gisha on behalf of Mr. Hamamdeh, an Israeli citizen who married a Palestinian resident of the Gaza Strip, and was prevented from moving to live with her as a result of the registration procedure. The petition was withdrawn after the state agreed, in its response from June 15, 2014, to register the couple’s marriage in the population registry and declared that the phrasing of the registration procedure would be reviewed. Given this position, and without foregoing the right to take future legal action on this issue, the petitioners agreed to withdraw the petition. No costs order was issued.
On May 14, 2014, Gisha filed a petition to the Supreme Court on behalf of Mr. Hamamdeh, requesting that his marriage be registered in the population registry. Additionally, in order to stop further impingement on the rights to freedom of movement and to family life of Israelis who wish to unite with their spouses in the Gaza Strip, Gisha, named as a party to the petition, also asked for the revocation of the provision contained in the registration procedure. On June 15, 2014, the state submitted its response, in which it agreed to immediately register the change of the petitioner’s marital status to married and noted that the question of the validity of the procedure will be reviewed. On June 16, 2014, Justice Danziger issued a decision that read: “Petitioners will give notification, by June 30, 2014, as to whether in view of the statements contained in the response of the Respondents, they agree to withdraw the petition, without prejudice and without requesting a costs order.”
Given that the remedy in the petitioner’s particular case had been granted and considering the decision of the Honorable Justice, the petitioners submitted their response (Hebrew) on June 26, 2014. In their submission, the petitioners requested to withdraw the petition, while emphasizing that the phrasing of the registration procedure leads to a disproportionate impingement on the fundamental rights of a significant number of Israeli citizens without justification and for no proper purpose. The petitioners also raised the concern that, without a pending petition, the respondents would fail to address the principled issue promptly, as has occurred on more than one occasion in the past. In light of this concern, the petitioners clarified that they will reserve their arguments and would once again seek the assistance of the court when the time was right. Thus, on July 7, 2014, another petition was filed in the matter of an Israeli citizen, Ms. Dabas, whose rights were violated as a result of the registration procedure.
To read the petition in the matter of Hamamdeh, 15 May 2014 (Hebrew)
To read the response of the petitioners in the matter of Hamamdeh, 26 June 2014 (Hebrew)
Second petition, in the matter of Dabas, July 7, 2014 (Hebrew)
