Israel · Legislation
Legislation and primary sources
Where to find the authoritative text of the law in Israel, and how to confirm it is still in force.
Sources of law, ranked
- Basic Laws
- Function as the constitution; two contain limitation clauses with supra-legislative effect.
- Knesset statutes
- Ordinary primary legislation, published in Reshumot.
- Judicial precedent
- Supreme Court decisions bind lower courts; the Court is not bound by its own.
- Codified private-law statutes
- Contracts, Sale, Agency, Unjust Enrichment and related Acts.
- Religious personal law
- Applied by rabbinical, sharia, druze and Christian courts by community.
The legislative process
A bill passes a preliminary reading, committee stage and three readings in the Knesset. There is no upper chamber and no presidential veto, so a bare majority of those voting can enact primary legislation and, in most cases, amend a Basic Law. The Attorney General's opinion on legality is treated as binding on government, which makes that office a significant pre-enactment check in the absence of a second chamber.
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