Dorit Beinisch

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Dorit Beinisch

Dorit Beinisch (Hebrew: דורית ביניש) (born: 1942) is the president of the Supreme Court of Israel. With the retirement of outgoing president Aharon Barak, she was appointed to the position on September 7, 2006. She is the first woman to serve as president of the Supreme Court. ^[1] She appears likely to continue Barak's judicial-activist approach.

A member of Israel's Supreme Court since 1995, Beinisch has an extensive career in public service. From 1989, she served as state attorney for seven years and as deputy state attorney before that. As state attorney, she headed government litigation in the magistrate, district and appellate courts. She also served as official legal advisor to government departments and agencies.

She served in the Israeli Defense Force, where she reached the rank of lieutenant. Beinisch received her law and advanced law degrees from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She then began her professional career following admittance to the Israeli Bar in 1967. She served as assistant to the Jerusalem district attorney and, subsequently, as senior assistant to the state attorney. From 1976-82, she directed the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law in the state attorney's office. She represented the state before the Supreme Court in constitutional and administrative cases.

In her various public service positions, she gave special attention to government corruption and to ensuring that government institutions adhere to the law, with a particular emphasis placed on the IDF, the police and general security services. Standing out among her opinions as a Supreme Court justice, is a decision holding that parents cannot use corporal punishment and other decisions stressing the importance of women's and children's rights.