Daphne Barak-Erez | |
|---|---|
דפנה ברק-ארז | |
 Daphne Barak-Erez, 2007 | |
| Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel | |
| Assumed office 31 May 2012 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1965-01-02)January 2, 1965 (age 60) United States |
| Education | |
Daphne Barak-Erez (Hebrew:דפנה ברק-ארז; born 2 January 1965) is an Israeli jurist serving as ajustice of the Supreme Court of Israel since 2012.[1] She has been described as a liberal justice.[2][3]
Daphne Barak-Erez was born in the United States to Israeli parents, and became acitizen by birthright of the United States. The family later returned to Israel, where she was raised. She studied law atTel Aviv University (TAU) as part of theAtuda program, earningBachelor of Laws,Master of Laws, andDoctor of Philosophy degrees,[1] and didpostdoctoral research atHarvard University. She served in theMilitary Advocate General's Office of theIsrael Defense Forces, and was discharged from regular service with the rank of captain. She continued serving in the reserves and reached the rank ofsgan aluf (lieutenant colonel).
In 2012, sherenounced her US citizenship as required by Israeli law in order to take up her Supreme Court position.[4]
Barak-Erez was appointed a lecturer at theUniversity of Haifa Faculty of Law in 1991, and at TAU's Faculty of Law in 1992. She was later appointed senior lecturer and associate professor, eventually becoming a full professor in 2004.[5][6] She was also taught atIDC Herzliya (nowReichman University) and the College of Management. She was granted the Stewart and Judy Colton Chair in 2007 and appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law at TAU in the fall of 2011.[5] As a scholar, she mainly specializes in constitutional andadministrative law. Her other areas of study includelegal history andfeminist jurisprudence.[5] In 2009 she was one of the final candidates for the position of Attorney General. Barak-Erez was a visiting professor at various universities, includingColumbia,Stanford,Duke,University of Toronto,UVA, andUCLA, as well as a visiting researcher in other distinguished institutions such asHarvard,Yale,Cambridge, and theMax Planck Institute.[5]
Barak-Erez has also served in public positions, such as Chairperson of the Council for Administrative Tribunals and as a member of theCouncil for Higher Education in Israel.[5]
She has served as Chairperson of the Israeli Association of Public Law and President of the Israeli Law & Society Association.[5]
As of 2025, Barak-Erez is the third most senior justice on theSupreme Court of Israel.[7] She has been noted for liberal approach[8] and social sensitivity.[9]
She wrote the lead opinion in the court's decision from 2022 that invalidated the practice of cutting off electricity consumers for non-payment without a hearing.[10] In a judgment in the area of defamation law and freedom of speech Barak-Erez held that a social media user may be liable for "sharing" a defamatory post, but not for merely "liking" it.[11] She was part of the 15-justice panel which decided on January 1st 2024 on invalidating the constitutional amendment aimed at limiting the power of the Supreme Court to review government decisions for lack of reasonableness, writing one of the concurring opinions in this matter.[12]
Barak-Erez serves as the Chair of the Ethics Committee of Judges (since 2023)[13] as well as a member of theJudicial Selection Committee (since 2023).[14]
Barak-Erez is the author and editor of 25 books and more than 140 articles and book chapters, includingOutlawed Pigs: Law, Religion and Culture in Israel (University of Wisconsin Press, 2007),Administrative Law (in Hebrew, 4 volumes, 2010, 2013, 2017) andBiblical Judgments: New Legal Readings in the Hebrew Bible (University of Michigan Press, 2024).[5][15]
She has been awarded several prizes, including TAU's annualZeltner Prize,[16] the Rector's Prize for Excellence in Teaching at Tel Aviv University (three times),[5] theCheshin Prize [he] for Academic Excellence in Law, named afterShneur Zalman Cheshin [he], justice of the first Israeli Supreme Court, the Woman of the City Award by the City ofTel Aviv, the Women in Law Award by theIsrael Bar Association,[5][17] and the Gorni Prize in Public Law.[18]
In November 2013, Daphne Barak-Erez accepted an award in Israel's name, for progress made in reducinggender gaps. The award was presented byWomen in Parliament Global Forum during a ceremony at theEuropean Parliament in Brussels.[19]
She is a member of theAmerican Law Institute and theInternational Academy of Comparative Law.[5]
She has been awarded multiple honorary doctorates bySciences Po (in 2017)[20] andRoma Tre University (in 2024).[21]
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