Ruth Gavison (born March 28, 1945, Jerusalem) is an Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i Law professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is also a Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Israel Democracy Institute

Israel Democracy Institute

The Israel Democracy Institute , established in 1991, is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank in Jerusalem, Israel. -History and goals:...

. Her areas of research include Ethnic Conflict, the Protection of Minorities, Human Rights, Political Theory, Judiciary Law, Religion and Politics, and Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

Supreme Court nomination

Gavison was nominated for a position on Israel's Supreme Court in 2005 but failed to secure a majority for the appointment. Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann

Daniel Friedmann

Daniel Friedmann was the Minister of Justice of Israel from 2007 to 2009. A professor of law, he was appointed by PM Ehud Olmert. He was sworn in on February 7, 2007, succeeding Tzipi Livni. In 2009 he was succeeded by Ya'akov Ne'eman.-Early life:...

 reportedly asserted in 2007 that existing Supreme Court justices opposed her nomination because of their disagreement with her views.

Background and education

• LLB, 1969: Hebrew University, Jerusalem
• BA,1970: Hebrew University, Jerusalem: Philosophy and Economics.
• LLM, 1971: Hebrew University, Jerusalem:
• D.Phil (legal Philosophy), 1975: University of Oxford
  University of Oxford
  The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
  
  , England.
• Clerk to Justice B. Halevi, Israel Supreme Court 1970.
• Admitted to the Israeli Bar 1971.

She published an essay on privacy in the Yale Law Journal, and edited a volume dedicated to Joseph Raz's legal philosophy published by Oxford. Recently, she published an essay about days of rest in divided societies (co-authored with Nahshon Perez), included in 'Law and Religion in Comparative Context', published by Cambridge. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Jewish Review of Books

Jewish Review of Books

The Jewish Review of Books is a quarterly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs from a Jewish perspective. It is published in New York City....

.

Academic appointments

• From 1969, teaching appointments, Faculty of Law, HU.
• 1978-1980: Visiting Associate Professor of Law, Yale Law School
  Yale Law School
  Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
  
  
• from 1984: Incumbent, Haim H. Cohn Chair for Human Rights, HU
• from 1990: Full Professor, Faculty of Law, HU
• 1990-1991: Visiting Professor of Law, University of Southern California
  University of Southern California
  The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
  
  
• 1998-99: Fellow, Center for Human Values, Princeton University
  Princeton University
  Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
  
  

Public committees

Gavison was a member of numerous Israeli Public Inquiry committees, including the following:

• 1976: Member, Kahan Committee on Privacy (generated Israel's law of privacy 1981).
• 1983: Member, committee on the privacy of information in governmental data-banks (generated an amendment to the privacy law).
• 1987-1990: Member, a public committee on orthodox-secular relationships in Israel.
• 1994-1997 Member, National Committee for Scientific and Technological Infrastructure.
• 1996-1997 Member, Zadok committee on press laws
• 1997-1998 Member, Shamgar Committee on the Appointment of the Attorney-General and Related Issues.
• 2006-2008 Member, Winograd Commission
  Winograd Commission
  The Winograd Commission is an Israeli government-appointed commission of inquiry, chaired by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd, which investigated and drew lessons from the Israel-Hezbollah War...
  
   to investigate the 2006 Lebanon War.

Other public activities

Gavison was a founding member of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel

Association for Civil Rights in Israel

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel was created as an independent non-partisan organization to protect human rights and civil rights in Israel and the territories under its control....

 (ACRI) where she served for many years as Chairperson and as President from 1996 to 1999. Professor Gavison is currently a member of the International Commission of Jurists

International Commission of Jurists

The International Commission of Jurists is an international human rights non-governmental organization. The Commission itself is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists , including members of the senior judiciary in Australia, Canada, and South Africa and the former UN High Commissioner for Human...

.

Awards

• In 1997, Gavison was awarded the Zeltner Prize for legal research.
• In 1998, she received the Bar Association Prize, together with Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
• In 2001, she received the Avi Chai Prize, together with Rabbi Yaakov Medan, for beinging together Israeli society.
• In 2002, she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for tolerance.
• In 2003, she was awarded the EMET Prize
  EMET Prize
  The Emet Prize for Art, Science and Culture is an annual Israeli prize given for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far reaching influence and significant contribution to society....
  
  .
• In 2003, she was granted an honorary doctorate by the Jewish Theological Seminar, New York.
• In 2009, she was awarded the Hashin Prize for excellence in research by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
  
  .
• In 2009, she was granted an honorary doctorate by the Bar Ilan University.
• In 2011, she was awarded the Israel Prize
  Israel Prize
  The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
  
  , for legal research.

External links

• Mika Levy, Biography of Ruth Gavison, Jewish Women's Archive
• Resume of Ruth Gavison (in Hebrew), Israel Prize website.