2026-09-06 Joseph Zernik, PhD, LLB – Advocacy for the Public Good

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            https://human-rights-alert.blogspot.com/2026/09/2026-09-06-joseph-zernik-phd-llb.html 

             2026-09-06

Joseph Zernik, PhD, LLB – Advocacy for the Public Good

Dr. Zernik's expertise in analyzing information systems and case‑management systems of legal and judicial authorities—and their significance to human rights compliance—has gained international recognition at the UN Human Rights Council, the US Department of State, the European Union, and the Supreme Court of the State of Israel.

He is lead author of Human Rights Alert (HRA) NGO submissions to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) proceedings—a UN rotating review process for all member states' human rights records—for the United States (2010, 2015) and for Israel (2012, 2018).

In 2013, the HRA submission on Israel was summarized by HRC professional staff in the UPR report on Israel as follows:

"25. Human Rights Alert (HRA) submission focused on the lack of integrity of the electronic record systems of the Supreme Court, District Courts and Detainees’ Courts in Israel.³⁴"

In 2018, the HRA submission on Israel was summarized by HRC staff in the UPR report as:

"24. HRA-NGO highlighted the serious deterioration in integrity of law and justice agencies as a consequence of the implementation of e-government systems. It affirmed that the validity and integrity of any legal and judicial records of Israel should be deemed dubious at best.⁵"

Exposures of Court Record Irregularities in Net HaMishpat

In 2013, Dr. Zernik exposed allegedly deceitful practices in the Net HaMishpat system in the Haifa Family Court by Judge Espranza Alon and Adv. Amos Sadika:
(a) Double books—two contradictory versions of the same decision, stored in the system but configured for differential visibility depending on the Net HaMishpat user ID.
(b) A unique, adulterated protocol record, the content of which was distorted, bearing an electronic watermark reading "Not signed yet."

The Administration of the Courts reviewed matter (b) and concluded that: (1) the watermark "Not signed yet" was not a built‑in feature of Net HaMishpat; and (2) it could not determine how that watermark was created on a Net HaMishpat protocol record.

In 2016, Dr. Zernik exposed in the Jerusalem Family Court the large‑scale issuance of decision records in Net HaMishpat bearing the watermark "Draft" in the Joelle Ben‑Simon affair. The Office of the Clerk of the Court stated that these records were invalid court decisions, even though the court had previously served them.

Academic and Official Recognition

In 2018, Dr. Zernik was invited to present a seminar on Net HaMishpat and the Israeli justice system at a colloquium of law professors from across the European Union, held at the Faculty of Law, University of Göttingen, Germany.

Also in 2018, Supreme Court President Esther Hayut acceded to Dr. Zernik's request and removed the footnote "The record is subject to editing and phrasing changes," which had appeared on all Supreme Court decisions since 2002. Dr. Zernik received a thank‑you note from President Hayut's bureau.

In January 2019, on the eve of the elections for the 21st Knesset, he was invited to a small, closed meeting with Deputy Chief Justice Hanan Melcer (then Chairman of the Central Election Committee) to discuss threats to electoral integrity in Israel.

In 2020, the US Department of State requested that Dr. Zernik contribute a short periodic report on the Israeli judicial system.

Landmark Legal Victories

In August 2020, the Supreme Court granted Dr. Zernik's appeal in civil case 4421/20 Zernik v. State of Israel, Netanyahu et al., challenging the ruling of a three‑judge panel of the Jerusalem District Court in criminal case 67104‑01‑20 State of Israel v. Netanyahu regarding public inspection rights for so‑called "post‑it note decisions"—informal short rulings that lacked formal written opinions. Attorney Avigdor Feldman, writing in Haaretz, dubbed the ruling "a historical event in our legal world."

In May 2020, Dr. Zernik won expenses and a fee refund in FOI petition 39537‑05‑20 Zernik v. Director of the Courts Judge Yigal Mersel and the Administration of the Courts, concerning the Administration's misleading use of the term "The Judicial Authority." In court, the Administration consented that no government entity in the State of Israel is named "The Judicial Authority"—"it is only a moniker."

Ongoing Challenges

1. Exposure of invalid electronic signatures on judicial records in the Israeli courts

In 2023, Dr. Zernik's Freedom of Information appeal (3763/22 HRA v. Director of Courts, Judge Y. Mersel) sought disclosure of the technical method by which judicial records in Net HaMishpat are electronically "signed." The Supreme Court denied the appeal, holding that the issue was "not yet ripe for review"—notwithstanding that the method itself had been kept secret from the public and the legal profession for over two decades.

In December 2025, the Administration of Courts (AOC) broke that secrecy by publishing an official guide admitting that the sole "signer" of all judicial records is the AOC's own Tax ID number (ID_500102173), certified by "Tamuz"—an entity not recognized as a lawful certifying authority by Israeli law, Adobe, Microsoft, Mozilla, or the European Union. The guide also confirmed that the "signature time" refers to the moment of download from Net HaMishpat, not the date the judges rendered judgment.

In September 2026, Dr. Zernik formally challenged these practices in a detailed letter to Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit, requesting the removal of the two deceptive visual markers added to all downloaded records: (1) the Green Seal, "True to the Original," which mimics the Chief Clerk's certification but is generated automatically without any clerk's review; and (2) the Blue Shield, "This document is digitally signed," which visually resembles Google's and Adobe's trust indicators but provides no lawful authentication. Dr. Zernik's analysis demonstrated that these markers create a false impression of judicial authenticity and undermine, rather than bolster, public confidence in the Israeli judiciary.

2. Authority and duties of the Clerk of the Court relative to integrity of court records

In March 2023, Dr. Zernik's court‑file inspection in criminal case 58959‑12‑18 State of Israel v. Effi Naveh demonstrated that, although the media reported that former Chair of the Israel Bar Association Effi Naveh had been convicted, no conviction record was ever entered into the court file. Judge Einat Ron refused to correct the aberration. On appeal (civil 17690‑12‑22 HRA v. State of Israel, Effi Naveh, et al.), the Central District Court agreed with HRA. Judge Ron passed away in the meantime, and the Administration of the Courts eventually covered up the issue by generating and posting its own invalid conviction record in the court file.

3. Challenging Israel’s GDPR "Adequacy" status

In 2026, Dr. Zernik initiated a new international advocacy effort to challenge the European Union's "Adequacy" status granted to Israel under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). To support this effort, he established the Net HaMishpat Archive, an open-access public repository hosted on Zenodo—a CERN-secured, EU-recognized platform—to preserve and share judicial records and analytical materials documenting systemic failures in Israel's electronic court system.

Unlike other civil society efforts that focus on the 2024 adequacy renewal, Dr. Zernik argues that the more legally sound and procedurally efficient approach is to petition for reconsideration of the original 2011 adequacy decision, on grounds that it was based on materially false representations. His submission to EU authorities will focus on three core issues:

1. Deceptive misrepresentation of compliance with the Israeli Electronic Signature Law, 5761-2001 – The Administration of Courts has systematically misrepresented the nature and validity of electronic signatures on judicial records, as demonstrated by the 2025 disclosure that the sole "signer" is the AOC's Tax ID, not the presiding judges.

2. Fraudulent development and operation of Net HaMishpat "with no representation of the public interest" – This finding, documented by State Comptroller Judge (ret.) Micha Lindenstrauss in Audit Report 60b (2010), goes to the very legitimacy of the system that processes and stores the personal data of millions of Israeli citizens and residents.

3. Corruption of the courts and violation of fundamental principles of a competent court of record – The systematic issuance of invalid, unsigned, or adulterated judicial records—including "draft" decisions served as final, "post-it" decisions without proper authentication, and the routine certification of non-records (e.g., "Scanned in Error" pages)—demonstrates a breakdown of the most basic evidentiary and administrative standards expected of a common-law judicial system, directly contradicting the 2011 decision's finding that Israeli courts operate as an "English common law"-like system.

The Net HaMishpat Archive¹ serves as the evidentiary foundation for this challenge, collecting court records, official correspondence, and analytical materials that would otherwise remain inaccessible or subject to the AOC's opaque data-management practices.

1 Available at https://zenodo.org/records/22166142