Shlomo Levin (; born February 22, 1933) is an Israeli jurist. He was a Justice (1980 - 2003) and Deputy President (1995 - 2003) 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 ...

Biography

Shlomo Levin was born in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

in 1933 to Jewish parents born in different parts of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. The family immigrated to

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 ...

in 1937. Levin studied law at 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. ...

, obtaining an LL.M. in 1955, LL.D. in 1959, and PhD in 1969. He trained in law at the offices of attorney Yehoshua Rotenstreich and Supreme Court President Yoel Sussman. He then worked as a lawyer and lectured at the law faculty of the Hebrew University 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 ...

Judicial career

In 1966, Levin was appointed to the Magistrate's Court in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

and in 1975 he became a District Court Judge. In 1979 as part of his

reserve duty A military reserve force is a military organization whose members (reservists) have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional ma ...

, he served on a military tribunal that tried and acquitted Commander of the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

Michael Barkai of rape of a female non-commissioned officer. In 1980, Levin was appointed to the Supreme Court where he served until his retirement in 2003. In 1995 he was appointed Deputy President of the Supreme Court, where he served under President

Aharon Barak Aharon Barak (; born 16 September 1936) is an Israeli lawyer and jurist who served as President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1995 to 2006. Prior to this, Barak served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1978 to 1995, and bef ...

. During his term on the Supreme Court, Levin presided over or participated in adjudication of several high-profile cases such as: * A petition demanding a trial of

John Demjanjuk John Demjanjuk (), born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demjanjuk (), was a Trawniki and Nazi camp guard at Sobibor extermination camp, Majdanek, and Flossenbürg. Demjanjuk became the center of global media attention in the 1980s, when he was tried and ...

for suspected war crimes in the

Sobibor extermination camp Sobibor ( ; ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), ...

after his acquittal of his alleged atrocities in

Treblinka Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, ...

. * An appeal against the detention of several Lebanese militants, among them

Mustafa Dirani Mustafa Dirani (; born 1951) is a former head of security in the Amal Movement in Lebanon. In 1987, he started reaching out to pro-Iran sources, and eventually established contact between them and the rest of the Amal leadership. He was eventuall ...

and

Abdel Karim Obeid Abdel Karim Obeid (; ; born 1957) is a Sheikh and Imam of the village of Jibchit in south Lebanon, high-place of Shia Islam in Lebanon, Lebanese Shiism. He is also a member of Hezbollah's Executive Council. Life Regarded as the spiritual leader ...

after the end of their prison terms. * Request by the

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 ...

to convene a larger Supreme Court panel to consider extradition of

Samuel Sheinbein Samuel Sheinbein (; 25 July 1980 – 23 February 2014) was an American-Israeli convicted murderer. On 16 September 1997, Sheinbein, a 17-year-old senior at John F. Kennedy High School in Montgomery County, Maryland, and Aaron Benjamin Needle, ...

to the United States to stand trial for murder. * A petition by women to conduct prayer services at the

Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...

Plaza, while carrying

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

scrolls and wearing tallitot (prayer shawls). * An appeal against the decision by the Central Electoral Commission barring the

Kach Kach () was a radical Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish, religious Zionist List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel, existing from 1971 to 1994. Founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1971 based on his Jewish-Orthodox-nationalist ...

party from participating in elections to the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

. * A petition challenging the legality of the use by the General Security Agency

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...

of moderate physical pressure against detainees in order to save human life.

Judicial training initiatives

In late 1970s, Levin proposed the creation of Israel's Institute for Advanced Judicial Studies, and later became its director. During his term on the Supreme Court, Levin played a leading role in establishing

International Organization for Judicial Training International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IOJT), and served as its first President.

Books

Levin, S., Law for General Public. Alon Publishing

Levin, S., "Lehiyot Shofet" ("To Be a Judge"), Kinneret Zmora Bitan, 2009.
* Levin, S., Civil Procedure Theory - Introduction and Fundamental Principles, Perlstein Ginossar, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Shlomo 20th-century Israeli lawyers 1933 births Living people Israeli Jews Israeli people of Latvian-Jewish descent Latvian Jews Judges of the Supreme Court of Israel Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni Academic staff of Tel Aviv University Latvian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem