Salim Joubran (, ; 1947 – 15 March 2024) was a judge of the

Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

. He served as a Supreme Court justice from 2003, and became a permanent member in May 2004. Joubran was of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...

heritage and affiliated with the Arab Christian community. Joubran was the first Arab to receive a ''permanent'' appointment in the Israeli Supreme Court. He was also described as the second Arab judge to hold a Supreme Court appointment, preceded by Abdel Rahman Zuabi, who held a fixed nine-month appointment in 1999.

Biography

Salim Joubran was born in the German Colony neighborhood of

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, to a

family of

Lebanese origin. Joubran graduated from the Terra Santa School of the Franciscan Order in

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

. He earned a law degree from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

and entered private practice as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

in 1970. Joubran has four children, three of whom are lawyers. His son Charbel is a lawyer in the field of sports and represents football players in Israel and abroad. Joubran died on 15 March 2024, at the age of 76.

Legal career

In 1982, Joubran left private practice after 12 years to accept an appointment as a judge on Haifa's Magistrate's Court, where he served for 11 years. In 1993, he was appointed to Haifa's district court, and served in that capacity for another 10 years, following which he was elevated to the Supreme Court first as a temporary and then as a permanent judge. Joubran was an expert on

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

. He was also the first Arab to chair the

Central Elections Committee The Israeli Central Elections Committee (, ''Va'adet HaBehirot HaMerkazit'') is the body charged under the Knesset Elections Law of 1969 to carry out the elections for the upcoming Knesset. The committee is composed of Knesset members (and deleg ...

. In the 2013 Israeli municipal elections, he barred the national ruling party

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

's advertisements for being "racist and almost certain to hurt the feelings of Arab Israelis and disrupt public order". This also overruled the advice of

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Yehuda Weinstein, who suggested the committee had no authority to regulate online advertisements and posters. Joubran was appointed justice in the

in 2004. He was appointed deputy to the Supreme Court chief justice on 12 June 2017. He retired later in 2017, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Academic and public positions

Joubran was a lecturer at the Law Faculty at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

. He served as governor of Israel Rotary (dist. 2490), and chairman of the Zeltner Fund for legal research sponsored by Rotary Israel and

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joubran, Salim 1947 births 2024 deaths Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni Israeli Maronites Israeli people of Lebanese descent Israeli Arab Christians Judges of the Supreme Court of Israel Lawyers from Haifa Academic staff of the University of Haifa