- Aharon Barak
Aharon Barak ( _he. אהרֹן ברק, birth name Arik Brick, born
September 16 ,1936 ) is a professor of law at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and a lecturer in law at theHebrew University of Jerusalem and a lecturer in law at theYale Law School and theUniversity of Toronto Faculty of Law .Aharon Barak was President of the
Supreme Court of Israel from 1995 until the middle of 2006. Legal scholars have called him the "John Marshall " of Israel, the "world's greatest living jurist." [ [http://www.yaledailynews.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=32944 E-mail from Israeli Law School lecturer fuels debate] Yale Daily News, 28 May 2006]Biography
Barak was born in
Kaunas ,Lithuania . He spent three years in theKovno Ghetto with his parents, before being smuggled out in a sack at the age of five. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/974098.html Welcome to the Third World - Haaretz - Israel News ] ] In 1947, after wandering through postwar Europe, the family immigrated toPalestine and settled in Jerusalem'sRehavia neighborhood. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/974098.html Welcome to the Third World - Haaretz - Israel News ] ] Barak is married to Elisheva and they have four children. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/974098.html Welcome to the Third World - Haaretz - Israel News ] ]Legal career
Barak championed a proactive judiciary that has interpreted Israel's Basic Law as its constitution and challenged Knesset laws on that basis; his actions have been controversial because of this.
Barak was appointed to the Supreme Court at the age of 33 after being the most powerful Attorney general in the history of Israel. He retired in 2006 after 28 years in the Supreme Court, during which he expanded the powers of the court and reshaped Israel as a constitutional democracy. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/974098.html Welcome to the Third World - Haaretz - Israel News ] ] . Barak is a secular Jew but believes in compromise with the religious sector and state support for religion. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/974098.html Welcome to the Third World - Haaretz - Israel News ] ] While some have called him a post-Zionist, he describes himself as a
Zionist who believes in a Jewish nation-state. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/974098.html Welcome to the Third World - Haaretz - Israel News ] ]In 2006, he published "The Judge in a Democracy", an examination of his judicial philosophy, in which he describes the role of a judge, beyond dispute resolution, is to connect law with society and to protect the constitution and democracy.Fact|date=April 2008 He also espouses the role of
purposive interpretation to reading constitutional texts. Fact|date=April 2008Barak received Honorary Degrees from
Brandeis University in 2003 andColumbia University in 2007.References
External links
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1998/6/Aharon+Barak+-+President+of+the+Supreme+Court.htm Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs biography]
* [http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/8145.html The Judge in a Democracy] (Princeton University Press, 2006)
* [http://www.azure.org.il/magazine/magazine.asp?id=349 Barak's Rule] , a book review by Robert Bork of The Judge in a Democracy.
* [http://www.shalemcenter.org.il/media/?did=64&aid=2cebedd70332e20f1adca1cd1c99e209 Enlightened Despot] , a book review byRichard Posner of The Judge in a Democracy.
* [http://www.harvardilj.org/online/113 "The Legacy of Justice Aharon Barak: A Critical Review", by Nimer Sultany]
* [http://www.adalah.org/newsletter/eng/jun05/rev.pdf "Ignoring the 'Other'", by Hassan Jabareen]
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