Hamishpat

Hamishpat (Hebrew: המשפט, "The Law") is the principal legal journal of the Haim Striks School of Law at the Colman Academic Center (Mikhlala LeMinhal) in Israel. Founded in February 1992 by Professor Daniel Friedmann, shortly after the law school opened, it has become a central venue for Israeli legal scholarship. The journal publishes academic articles across all fields of law, alongside reviews of legal developments such as court rulings and legislative proposals, and book reviews. Submissions are accepted after an anonymous peer-review process and editorial work, following the norms of scientific journals. Up to two issues appear each year: one thematic issue (for example, the 2023 issue focused on "the body in law") and one general issue. From 1992 to 2010, Hamishpat appeared in two formats: booklets attached twice a year to the newspaper Haaretz, numbered in Arabic numerals (27 booklets in total), and an annual volume numbered in Hebrew letters. The annual volume typically collected the articles from the two issues published during the year, often in expanded and updated versions, plus additional articles not included in the booklets. Today the printed volume is published once or twice a year by Nevo Press, and articles are uploaded to the journal's website and made available online after the editorial board completes its work and before print publication. The journal is run by an editorial board of about 20 members, mostly outstanding students at the Haim Striks School of Law, together with the editor-in-chief and associate editors. Members are selected at the end of their first year of law studies and serve for two years. Their work includes substantive research editing — raising the academic level of articles, locating additional sources, engaging comprehensively with the thesis, and addressing counterarguments — as well as technical editing to ensure uniform standards of citation, proofreading, and structure. The current editor-in-chief is Dr. Adi Yochat, a faculty member at the Haim Striks School of Law; the current associate editors are Reut Saban and Noa Bardugo. Past editors include Dr. Raanan Har-Zahav (volumes 1–5), Prof. Yuval Shany (volumes 6–8), Prof. Haim Zandberg (volume 9), Prof. Yoram Rabin (issue 20), Dr. Orit Fishman Afory (volume 10), Dr. Nili Karko-Eyal (volumes 11–13), Prof. Zvi Triger (volumes 15–16), Dr. Yossi Nahushtan (volumes 17–19), and Dr. Limor Zer-Gutman (volumes 20–28). In addition to the print journal, Hamishpat co-publishes an online companion journal, "Hamishpat BaReshet: Human Rights" (The Law Online: Human Rights), jointly with the Emil Zola Chair for Human Rights. That online journal focuses on academic writing on human rights across disciplines; its editor-in-chief is Prof. Orna Ben-Naftali, and its case-comment editor is Adv. Elad Sharabi. It contains two forums: "Case Comments" and "Guest Contributions." The journal also hosts special events, including a 2011 visit by Professor Carol Gilligan that launched issue 16 on the necessity of gender studies in the 21st century, a 2014 conference marking the launch of volume 2 of the online human rights journal, a 2022 conference honoring retired Supreme Court Deputy President Eliezer Rivlin on the launch of volume 28, and a planned June 2025 conference launching volume 30 (in memory of faculty alumnus Yuval Kastelman) and volume 31 (on technology and human rights).

Hamishpat was founded in February 1992 by Professor Daniel Friedmann, shortly after the opening of the law school at the Colman Academic Center (then known as the College of Management). From 1992 to 2010, the journal appeared in two parallel formats: booklets attached twice a year to the newspaper Haaretz, numbered in Arabic numerals (27 booklets in total), and an annual volume numbered in Hebrew letters. The annual volume generally collected the articles from the two issues published during the year, often in expanded and updated versions, together with additional articles not included in the booklets. This dual format made the journal accessible to a broad readership through the newspaper while maintaining a scholarly annual record. Over the decades, the journal has been led by a succession of editors: Dr. Raanan Har-Zahav (volumes 1–5), Prof. Yuval Shany (volumes 6–8), Prof. Haim Zandberg (volume 9), Prof. Yoram Rabin (issue 20), Dr. Orit Fishman Afory (volume 10), Dr. Nili Karko-Eyal (volumes 11–13), Prof. Zvi Triger (volumes 15–16), Dr. Yossi Nahushtan (volumes 17–19), and Dr. Limor Zer-Gutman (volumes 20–28). The current editor-in-chief is Dr. Adi Yochat, a faculty member at the Haim Striks School of Law, with associate editors Reut Saban and Noa Bardugo. The journal publishes academic articles in all fields of law, accepted after anonymous peer review and editorial work, as is customary in scientific journals. It also features reviews of legal developments (such as court rulings or legislative proposals) and book reviews. Up to two issues appear each year: one thematic issue (for example, the 2023 issue focused on "the body in law") and one general issue. Once the editorial board completes work on articles and before print publication, they are uploaded to the journal's website and made available online. The printed volume is published once or twice a year by Nevo Press. The editorial board comprises about 20 members, mostly outstanding students at the Haim Striks School of Law, who are responsible for all aspects of the journal: academic evaluation of articles and approval for publication, substantive editing (offering recommendations to improve articles), and technical editing and preparation for print. Members are selected at the end of their first year of law studies and serve for two years. Their training includes substantive, technical, and language instruction in editing academic articles. During the academic year, members present the article they worked on to their peers. In addition to the print journal, Hamishpat co-publishes an online companion, "Hamishpat BaReshet: Human Rights" (The Law Online: Human Rights), jointly with the Emil Zola Chair for Human Rights. This online journal focuses on academic writing on human rights across disciplines. Its editor-in-chief is Prof. Orna Ben-Naftali, and its case-comment editor is Adv. Elad Sharabi. It contains two forums: "Case Comments" and "Guest Contributions." The journal has hosted notable events. In May 2011, Professor Carol Gilligan visited Israel as a guest of Hamishpat at the initiative of Zvi Triger; issue 16, launched during her visit, addressed the necessity of gender studies in the 21st century, and Gilligan contributed an essay first published in Hebrew in the journal. In November 2014, Dr. Orit Kamir visited a conference held to launch volume 2 of Hamishpat BaReshet: Human Rights; a symposium centered on research by Dr. Orit Kamir, Ronit Harris, and others on the implementation of the law against sexual harassment in its first decade, with responses from Adv. Sharon Abraham-Weiss, Dr. Daphna Hacker, Naomi Levenkron, Dr. Ruthi Levenstein-Lazar, and MK Merav Michaeli. In 2022, a conference was held honoring retired Supreme Court Deputy President Eliezer Rivlin, launching volume 28 dedicated to his figure and the main areas of his judicial work. A festive conference is planned for June 2025 to launch two volumes: volume 30, dedicated to the memory of faculty alumnus Yuval Kastelman, and volume 31, on technology and human rights; the conference will also provide a platform for responses to articles published in volume 29 on "the body in law."

• 2025

  June: Festive conference planned to launch volume 30 (in memory of Yuval Kastelman) and volume 31 (technology and human rights).

• 2023

  Thematic issue focused on 'the body in law'.

• 2022

  Conference honoring retired Supreme Court Deputy President Eliezer Rivlin; volume 28 launched.

• 2014

  November: Conference marking launch of volume 2 of Hamishpat BaReshet: Human Rights, with Dr. Orit Kamir.

• 2011

  May: Professor Carol Gilligan visits Israel as guest of the journal; issue 16 on gender studies launched.

• 2010

  Ends the Haaretz booklet format; continues as annual volumes published by Nevo Press.

• 1992

  Journal founded in February by Professor Daniel Friedmann, shortly after the law school opened.

• 1992

  Begins dual publication format: Haaretz booklets (Arabic numerals) and annual volumes (Hebrew letters), continuing until 2010.

Leading peer-reviewed legal journal of the Haim Striks School of Law, Colman Academic Center, Israel.

• Hamishpat print journal

  Annual volumes published once or twice a year by Nevo Press, containing peer-reviewed legal articles, case comments, and book reviews.

• Hamishpat BaReshet: Human Rights

  Online companion journal co-published with the Emil Zola Chair for Human Rights, focusing on human rights scholarship.

1. 1Official websitehamishpat.colman.ac.il
2. 2Wikidata entrywikidata.org
3. 3Hebrew Wikipedia: המשפט (כתב עת)he.wikipedia.org