Palestine Order-in-Council
AT THE COURT AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE
The 10th day of August, 1922
Present
THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
LORD CHAMBERLAIN
LORD STAMFORDHAM
MR. SECRETARY SHORTT
MR. MCCURDY
Palestine Order-in-Council, 1922-1947
[As Currently in Force in the State of Israel]
And whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favor of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country;
And whereas the Principal Allied Powers have selected His Majesty as the Mandatory for Palestine;
And whereas, by treaty, capitulation, grant, usage, sufferance and other lawful means, His Majesty has power and jurisdiction within Palestine.
NOW, THEREFORE, His Majesty, by virtue and in exercise of the powers in this behalf by the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890, or otherwise, in His Majesty vested, is pleased, by and with the advice of His Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:—
In Accordance with Articles 14 and 15 of the Law and Administration Ordinance every function formerly vested in the King of Britain or in the High Commissioner shall now be vested in the Cabinet of Israel and the term "Palestine (E"I)", whenever appearing in any law, shall no be read as "Israel".
In Accordance with Article 13 of the Transition Law the term "Gazette", whenever appearing in any law, shall now be read as "Reshumot".The limits of this Order are the territories to which the Mandate for Palestine (E"I) applies, hereinafter described as Israel.
"Secretary of State" [Implied omitted]
"The High Commissioner" [Implied omitted]
"Public Lands" means all lands in Israel which are subject to the control of the Government of Israel by virtue of Treaty, convention, agreement or succession, and all lands which are or shall be acquired for the public service or otherwise.
"The Mandate" [Omitted]
"The High Commissioner in Council" [Omitted]
"Reshumot" [Orig.: Gazette] means the Official Gazette of the Government of Israel.
"Person" includes Corporation.
"Religious Community" means any community mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Order and any community which may be declared by a Cabinet Decree to be a Religious Community.
Words importing the plural or the singular may be construed as referring to one person or thing or to more than one person or thing, and words importing the masculine as referring to females (as the case may require).
(ii) Where this Order or any Ordinance confers a power or imposes a duty on the holder of an office, then, unless a contrary intention appears, the power may be exercised and the duty shall be performed by the holder of the office for the time being or by a person duly appointed to act for him.
(iii) Where this Order or any Ordinance confers a power to make rules, regulations or orders, then, unless a contrary intention appears, the power shall be construed as including a power exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like approval and conditions (if any) to rescind, revoke, amend or vary the rules, regulations or orders.
(iv) Expressions defined in this Order shall have the same respective meaning in any Ordinances, rules or regulations made under this Order, unless a contrary intention appears.
(2) If a question arises whether any place is or is not within any administrative division or district, and such question does not appear to be determined by any such Resolution of the Cabinet or other evidence, it shall be referred to the Cabinet, and a certificate under its hand and seal shall be conclusive on the question, and judicial notice shall be taken thereof.
[The Cabinet has granted Individual Ministers the power to appoint the necessary officers to execute ordinances and regulations and to fulfill every other Ministerial Duty.]
[The Cabinet has granted Individual Ministers the power to dismiss or temporarily suspend officers in working in the domain of their Ministry]
Provided always that the said common law and doctrines of equity shall be in force in Palestine so far only as the circumstances of Palestine and its inhabitants and the limits of His Majesty's jurisdiction permit and subject to such qualification as local circumstances render necessary.
[This Article has been repealed by the Foundation of Justice Act, though preserved by a Grandfather Clause.]
(2) Provisions regarding the following may be enacted by Order:
- (a) The Compostition, Organization and Procedure of the Courts of the Religious Communities, and, subject to this Order, the use of their Jurisdiction;
- (b) Determination of the Causes in which a Person is considered a Member of a Religious Community and the methods of making conversions legally valid and the consequences of these conversions.
- (i) [Repealed].
- (ii) [Repealed].
- (iii) Exclusive jurisdiction over any case as to the constitution or internal administration of a Wakf or religious endowment constituted before the Rabbinical Court according to Jewish Law.
- (i) Exclusive jurisdiction in matters of marriage and divorce, alimony, and confirmation of wills of members of their community other than foreigners as defined in Article 59.
- (ii) Jurisdiction in any other matters of personal status of such persons, where all the parties to the action consent to their jurisdiction.
- (iii) Exclusive jurisdiction over any case concerning the constitution or internal administration of a Wakf or religious endowment constituted before the Religious Court according to the religious law of the community, if such exists.
- (iv) Jurisdiction to decide on appeals on any law, exlcuding Israeli law, regardless of the Parties being Israeli subjects or Foreigners.
provided always that the Courts shall have no jurisdiction to pronounce a decree of dissolution of marriage until an Ordinance is passed conferring such jurisdiction.
(ii) The personal law shall be the law of the nationality of the foreigner concerned unless that law imports the law of his domicile, in which case the latter shall be applied.
The Courts of the Religious Communities other than the Moslem Religious Courts shall not, however, have power to grant a decree of dissolution of marriage to a foreign subject.
For the Purposes of this Article, Dissolution of Marriage includes Divorce and Separation.
In case of a Conflict between the English version of an Ordinance, official notice or official form and the Arabic or Hebrew version thereof, the English Version Shall Prevail.[The Obligation to use English has been voided by Article 15(c) of the Law and Administration Ordinance.]
[The second Paragraph of this Article was superseded, though not repealed, by Article 24 of the Interpretation Act, 5741-1981, which states that "The binding text of any law is the text in the language in which it was enacted: Provided that in case of a law originally enacted in English before the establishment of the State, for which a new version has been made under Article 16 of the Law and Administration Ordinance, 5708-1948(2), the new version shall be the binding text.".]
Second Schedule - Article 2
The Eastern (Orthodox) Community. The Latin (Catholic) Community. The Gregorian Armenian Community. The Armenian (Catholic) Community. The Syrian (Catholic) Community. The Chaldean (Uniate) Community. The Jewish Community. The Greek Catholic Melkite Community. The Maronite Community. The Syrian Orthodox Community. The Vangelical Episcopal Church In Israel. The Baha'i Faith.

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