High Court of Justice 1898/06 Ministry of Interior v. National Labor Court Jerusalem – Courts Administration

Judgment

Justice D.  Berliner:

1. Where should an elected official's claim to receive his wages be clarified - in the Labor Court or in this court sitting as the High Court of Justice? This is the main issue that has been presented to us.

The Labor Court, with its various instances, was of the opinion that when the claim was for wages, its own doors were opened to it clearly.  The state, which is the petitioner before us, is of the opinion that the court erred in doing so mainly because there is no employee-employer relationship between the elected officials and the authority.  Even if, for the purposes of certain laws, an elected official can be considered an employee, he is not an employee in the sense of the word.  In section 24(a) 30The Labor Court Law, 5729-1969, 68 70 (hereinafter: The Labor Court Law or The Law) and therefore - the Labor Court - did not acquire jurisdiction to hear his case.  This is especially so, when the grounds by virtue of which the court is asked to intervene are in the realm of administrative law and not labor law.  Hence the petition before us, in which the state requests that this court determine that the authority to hear wage claims by elected officials is not vested in the Labor Court, and as a result, it will annul two conflicting decisions of the Labor Court.

The factual basis in the petition consists of two different affairs that have no connection to each other, except for the legal issue at the center.

The Rasmi Affair

2. Respondent No. 2 Yaakov Official (Hereinafter: Official) was elected on January 25, 1998 to serve as deputy head of the Kafr Qara local council.  He served in this position until the end of his term in December 1998.  About 9 months after his appointment, he contacted Official demanding that the Ministry of Interior be approved to pay his salary as deputy head of the authority.  In response to his request, the Ministry of Interior informed him that he would be paid a salary, subject to the fulfillment of three conditions: 1.  His salary is duly budgeted in the council's approved budget and the council's coffers are money to pay for it.  2.  Written confirmation from the head of the council that Official He fulfilled his duties as a deputy, in accordance with the powers delegated to him by the head of the council.  3.  There is a decision by the Council after the fulfillment of the two above conditions, to pay his salary.

On December 13, 1998, a letter was sent from the Council to the Ministry of the Interior, confirming that all of the above conditions had been fulfilled (hereinafter: Confirmation Letter).  About a month later, he contacted Official Once again and asked for final approval for the payment of his salary.  Following this request, the Ministry of Interior conducted an additional inquiry to verify the correctness of what was stated in the approval letter.  This further inquiry revealed that according to the outgoing and incumbent heads of the Council, during the relevant period, Official He did not fulfill his position according to the powers delegated to him, and in practice taught in two schools during the aforementioned period.  In addition, the council's coffers do not have money to pay his salary, and the approval letter was not approved by the head of the council as required.  As such, the Ministry of Interior notifiedOfficial For his wages will not be paid.  Official He responded by filing a lawsuit with the Haifa Regional Labor Court, to which the respondents were the Kafr Qara Local Council and the Ministry of the Interior.  As for the local council, he asked Official that the court will declare its obligation to pay him his salary, or alternatively, that the council will declare that the conditions required for the payment of his salary have been met.  As for the Ministry of the Interior, the statement of claim claims that it was not authorized to present the conditions it presented for the payment of his salary, and that he should have approved the payment of his salary.