"William James Fitzgerald"

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William James Fitzgerald (1895–1989), a British judge headed by the Supreme Court in Israel during the British Mandate as "Chief Justice".

biography
William James Fitzgerald was born in Ireland in 1895 and studied law in Dublin. During the First World War, he served in the British Army and was engaged in the War Cross. In 1919 he began serving as the colonial government in Nigeria. In 1932, he was appointed to the Chief Attorney and in 1936 to the Attorney General of North Rhodesia (now Zambia). In January 1937, the Attorney General of Israel was appointed. In November 1943, he was elected to serve as the elder of the judges in Israel and entered office in 1944.

In contrast to the opinion of the judges in the land of Israel that preceded him, Thomas Haydft, Michael McDonnell and Harry Herbert Trastod, who refused to apply the principles of British law in the Land of Israel regarding his superior principles, in their opinion, are not suitable for the population of “ideals,” Fitzgerald was appointed to the judges as cultural proponents of the English and white courts. He did not believe in the cultural inferiority of the inhabitants of the Land of Israel, and therefore did not hesitate to import rules of English law, however, believed that there were certain parts in which the English law was less good than the local law, and therefore refused to import indiscriminate rules from English law and a flag in a selective approach to its import.

A notable example of applying British law was in a principled judgment known from July 1947, taught to date in the law schools in Israel, given in the law trial of light (orr Damges Case), a case in which the toddler daughter of the English registrar of the Supreme Court, Light Stephanie, was laid after her birth, in the hospital of the English Mission in Jerusalem, in the crib with a hot water bottle. The water was leaked and the baby remained intact. The parents sued the hospital and their lawsuit was accepted. Judge Fitzgerald stated in this precedent that English law can be imported because they are universal and are not unique to England. He ruled the girl, who was at the time of the decision for three-and-a-half years, in compensation for the amount of 19,000 non-J. — an amount of time in those days.

Fitzgerald proposed to make the judicial system in Israel more democratic and suitable for the aspirations and values of the simple person. He did not distinguish between English and Natives, but rather between tradition supporters and progressive supporters. Progress, therefore, will not come through the blind adoption of English law, but only the universal principles of English law. Fitzgerald also supported the comparison of the status of local, Jewish and Arab judges, to those of the British judges in Israel. During his time, all the signs of discrimination between the local judges and the British judges were canceled.

In 1945, following the Arab claims that because of the Jewish majority in Jerusalem, they do not have adequate representation in the city council, the High Commissioner, Lord Gort, according to Judge Fitzgerald to investigate and propose a solution. Fitzgerald submitted his report to the Supreme Commissioner on August 28, 1945, offering to divide the city into Jewish and Arab rabbis, each of whom would be mayor and his own city council. The report was packed with a map where the Arab and Jewish areas were marked. This program was not implemented during the Mandate period.

Despite his judicial, democratic and equal approach, Justice Fitzgerald issued two important verdicts that had discriminatory access to the Jewish community – regarding land acquisition by the Jews and the right of the Jews to immigrate to the Land of Israel:

At the beginning of 1947, Judge Fitzgerald issued a verdict in the High Court of 19/47, “Bernerd Rosenthal against the impression of land in Haifa.” Bernard Rosenblatt, Jew,