Background
Fatma Aziz Muhammad Mar’i appealed a Jerusalem District Court judgment, sitting as a Court for Administrative Affairs, that rejected her petition challenging the dismissal of an administrative appeal concerning a denied building-permit application. The District Court had also ordered her to pay NIS 10,000 in costs. On June 9, 2026, Supreme Court Justice Alex Stein issued an interim order staying execution of that judgment until further decision, subject to urgent military and security needs.
Mar’i asked to be exempted from both the Supreme Court filing fee and the requirement to post security for costs. She asserted, by affidavit, that she and her family had no property, bank accounts, or income; that her children and their families lived with her; and that she could neither readily finance counsel nor obtain the required sums from those close to her. The respondent planning and building authorities opposed the request, arguing that she supplied no supporting financial records, inadequately explained why relatives could not assist her, and had poor prospects of success on appeal.
The Court’s Holding
Registrar Moran Yahav declined to grant a complete exemption. The registrar explained that exemption from fees and security requires both adequately documented financial inability and sufficient prospects of success, with a stronger showing of prospects required for exemption from security. An applicant must also demonstrate an inability to raise the security with help from close associates or family.
Mar’i had not supplied even a minimal evidentiary foundation beyond her affidavit: she provided no documentation of her financial condition, did not itemize her expenses, did not document efforts to obtain assistance, and did not adequately explain how her legal representation would be funded. The NIS 10,000 costs award below also weighed against full relief.
Nevertheless, considering her sworn claims of financial hardship, the nature of the proceeding, the disparity in power between the parties, and the fact that the appeal was as of right, the registrar reduced the filing fee to NIS 500 and the security to NIS 10,000. The ruling expressly stated that this reduction expressed no view on the appeal’s prospects. Both sums were due by August 13, 2026, failing which the appeal could be dismissed without a further decision. No costs were awarded on the application.
Key Takeaways
- An affidavit asserting poverty, without current and comprehensive supporting records, ordinarily does not establish entitlement to a complete exemption from court fees or security.
- An applicant seeking exemption from security must also show that funds cannot be raised through family members or others in the applicant’s immediate circle.
- Even when full exemption is unwarranted, the court may reduce the required amounts based on sworn hardship claims, the nature of the case, unequal bargaining power, and the availability of an appeal as of right.
Why It Matters
The decision illustrates the evidentiary burden imposed on litigants seeking financial relief in Israeli appellate proceedings. Applicants should document assets, income, expenses, funding of legal representation, and unsuccessful attempts to obtain assistance rather than relying on a general affidavit alone.
It also shows the registrar’s ability to balance access to justice against protection of respondents from unrecoverable costs. Importantly, this was a procedural ruling about fees and security—not a decision on the merits of Mar’i’s building-permit appeal.