Israeli law

The modern judicial system in Palestine, later the State of Israel, was established by a British senior judicial officer, Orme Bigland Clarke, who was appointed by General Edmund Allenby in 1918, following the British conquest. Britain, which was given a League of Nations mandate to govern Palestine, implemented the Common Law system, except for the jury system. Legal precedents in torts and contracts were borrowed from England, and certain legal areas were codified in order to assure legal certainty. Thus the Penal Code in Israel was practically the same as those used by the British in India or other colonies and territories. Upon Independence, a Bill of Independence was signed as a manifesto for the new State. While it was drafted as a universal and democratic declaration capturing noble ideas prevalent at the time, it is non-binding, although has occasionally been used as a guiding tool by the courts. With the establishment of the state, English law as it was on the date of independence remained binding, with post-1948 English law developments being persuasive and not binding. This was enabled by the first legislative act of the Provisional State Council, which enacted a reception statute as part of the 'Law and Administration Ordinance' published on 19 May 1948, four days following the Declaration of Independence. Some aspects of Turkish Ottoman law still remain today, such as placing personal status and marriage law in the hands of the religious courts. Also the Turks adopted the Napoleonic Land Registration system, through a successive Block and Lot entries. Many Turkish land laws remain in force. Since independence the young State of Israel was eager to gain recognition in the international arena by joining international treaties, and participating heavily in the negotiations of international treaties, e.g., the Warsaw convention.