An authority decided against you? Prison Service, police, licensing office, community-service supervisor, firearms division. Every such decision can be reviewed by a court.

A decision by an authority is not the end of the road, but each authority has its own route and its own clock: 45 days for an administrative petition, 45 days for a firearms-licence appeal, 14 days for a petition against the termination of community service, 30 days for an appeal against the medical institute. Miss the date and you are left with the decision.

Written by the team at the law office of Adv. Aviad Hayat · updated 1.10.2026

052-642-4440

An administrative petition is filed without delay, and no later than 45 days from the day the decision was published or delivered (regulation 3 of the Administrative Courts (Procedure) Regulations, 2000). Even within the 45 days the court may dismiss a petition filed with unjustified delay (regulation 4). Matters listed in the First Schedule to the law are heard by the District Court sitting as an administrative court; everything else, including most police decisions, goes to the High Court of Justice.

Seven rules from the moment you receive the decision

1Write down the date you received the decisionEvery deadline runs from that day: 45 days for a petition or a firearms appeal, 30 days for a medical appeal, 14 days for termination of community service. Keep the envelope, the e-mail or a screenshot with the date.
2Do not act against the decision, even if it is wrongDriving after the licensing authority suspended your licence, holding a weapon after the licence was revoked, or not reporting for community service are offences or grounds in themselves. First the decision is cancelled, then life goes back to normal.
3Exhaust the internal route before courtA firearms licensing officer's decision has an appeal to the supervisor; the medical institute's decision has an appeals committee; a prisoner must first apply to the Prison Service. A petition filed without exhausting the prior application may be dismissed outright.
4Demand the reasons and the materialThe authority must give reasons. Ask in writing for the hearing protocol, the information before the decision-maker and the documents it relied on. Without the material there is no way to attack the decision.
5The hearing is the proceeding, not a ceremonyTermination of community service, revocation of a firearms licence or an administrative disqualification require an opportunity to be heard before the decision. Come to the hearing with documents and with a lawyer. What was not said at the hearing is hard to put into the petition later.
6If the harm is immediate, ask for an interim orderThe court may freeze the decision until the petition is heard, and in urgent cases give a temporary order on the application alone, with a hearing within ten days (regulations 9 and 9a). Such an application is filed together with the petition, not after it.
7Do not wait for day 44The deadline is a ceiling, not a target. A petition needs an affidavit, exhibits, a fee and a prior application. Whoever reaches us in the first week gets both the internal route and the petition on time.

These are general rules. In the first call we identify the authority, the right route and the deadline, and then work backwards from the deadline.

The routes, by authority

1Prison Service: a prisoner's petitionA prisoner or detainee may petition the District Court in whose district the prison lies on any matter concerning the imprisonment: conditions, visits, telephone, furloughs, separation, transfer between prisons, classification, medical care, meetings with a lawyer. The hearing is before a single judge, in the prisoner's presence. Before petitioning one must apply to the Prison Service and wait for an answer. Leave to appeal to the Supreme Court may be sought within 30 days.Prisons Ordinance, sections 45 and 62a; Procedure Regulations (Prisoners' Petitions), 1980, regulations 2, 4 and 7
2Parole Board: early releaseA prisoner sentenced to more than six months is entitled to a parole hearing after two thirds of the sentence. The board weighs the risk to the public, conduct in prison, the rehabilitation plan and prior record. The prisoner may be represented and see the material, except classified material of which a summary is given. The board's decision is challenged by petition to the District Court, and the judgment by leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.Conditional Release from Imprisonment Law, 2001, sections 3, 9, 16, 17 and 25
3Community-service supervisor: administrative terminationThe Prisons Commissioner, or an authorised officer of brigadier rank, may decide that community service shall not begin or shall stop: non-appearance, unauthorised absence, poor performance or conduct, breach of the court's conditions, disobeying the supervisor, arrest, or concealing material information. Before deciding, the worker must be given an opportunity to argue, orally and documented in writing. The decision is challenged by petition to the District Court within 14 days (extendable for special reasons). The court may uphold, dismiss or order a return to community service. Whoever is stopped serves the remainder in actual prison.Penal Law, sections 51b, 51i and 51j
4Firearms Licensing Division: refusal, revocation or conditionsThe licensing officer may refuse, revoke, suspend or condition a licence. Whoever is harmed may file a written appeal to the supervisor appointed by the Minister of National Security, within 45 days. No licence is granted if a senior police officer determined there is an impediment, and since 2023 the police position is in practice decisive. The supervisor's appeal decision is challenged by administrative petition to the District Court (item 11 of the First Schedule). The court examines reasonableness and proportionality; it does not replace the discretion. With about 330,000 licence holders today, against 155,000 in 2023, this is one of the busiest areas of petitions.Firearms Law, 1949, sections 11 and 12; Administrative Courts Law, First Schedule, item 11
5Licensing authority (licensing office): disqualification and conditionsThe licensing authority may, in a reasoned decision, disqualify a licence holder permanently, for a period or until conditions are met, if satisfied that they are unfit to drive, and suspend a licence pending medical tests or a driving test. A decision on medical fitness is appealed to a medical appeals committee within 30 days, and then to the administrative court on a legal question only. Other decisions of the authority (refusal to renew, conditions, counting of a disqualification period) are attacked by administrative petition, since every decision under the Traffic Ordinance, including licensing, is listed in the Schedule.Traffic Ordinance, sections 51, 52, 55 and 55a; Administrative Courts Law, First Schedule, item 14
6Israel Police: when the High Court and when the District CourtMost police decisions are not in the First Schedule, so they are challenged in the High Court of Justice under its residual jurisdiction: refusal of a licence for a demonstration or march, conditions imposed on an event, refusal to investigate, conduct towards a person. Some are in the Schedule: decisions concerning police officers (item 37), public security (item 11). Police record of a closed file: an officer of chief superintendent rank or above may cancel it on request, and it is erased automatically after seven years for a non-felony (five for a minor). A refusal to cancel is challenged by petition.Police Ordinance, sections 83 and 84; Administrative Courts Law, section 5 and First Schedule; Criminal Information and Rehabilitation Law, 2019, sections 27 and 33
7What the court checks, and what it does notGrounds of review: lack of authority, breach of the right to be heard, extraneous considerations, extreme unreasonableness, lack of proportionality, discrimination. The court does not ask "what would I decide" but whether the decision is within the range of reasonableness. So the petition is built on the flaw in the process and the considerations, not on the story alone. Appeal on the judgment: to the Supreme Court within 60 days; in prisoners' and parole petitions only by leave, within 30 days.Administrative Courts Law, sections 5 and 8; Procedure Regulations, regulations 3, 4, 9, 9a and 33

The deadlines here are the rule. Every law has extensions "for special reasons", but whoever relies on them starts on the opponent's ground.

From the decision to the judgment

Step 1The decisionA letter, a text message, or a notice at a hearing. Sometimes without reasons. From this moment the deadlines run. Demand reasons and material in writing, and keep proof of the date of receipt.
Step 2Prior application and internal appealAppeal to the firearms supervisor (45 days), appeal to the medical appeals committee (30 days), application to the Prison Service, or a reasoned request that the authority reconsider. Sometimes the decision is reversed here, without a court.
Step 3Preparing the petitionFacts in an affidavit, exhibits, the legal argument, the remedy sought and the fee. A good administrative petition is short, documented, and shows a clear flaw in the process or the considerations.
Step 4Interim orderWhen the decision hurts now (a suspended licence, a weapon taken, community service stopped), we ask to freeze it until the hearing. The court weighs the petition's prospects and the balance of harm.
Step 5The authority's response and the hearingThe authority files a response, usually within weeks. At the hearing the court often proposes an arrangement: reconsideration, softened conditions, a new date. Not every proposal is worth accepting.
Step 6The judgmentCancellation of the decision, return to the authority, or dismissal of the petition. In prisoners' petitions and community-service cases the decision comes relatively fast. In ordinary administrative petitions: months.
Step 7AppealAdministrative petition: appeal as of right to the Supreme Court within 60 days. Prisoner's petition, parole board and community service: application for leave to appeal within 30 days. The Supreme Court intervenes mainly on questions of principle.

The time between step 1 and step 3 is the whole proceeding. That is where it is decided whether there is a petition, and about what.

How a petition can end

WithdrawalBefore the hearingQuite a few decisions are reversed after the petition is filed and the authority reads it with its legal adviser. The petition is struck out, usually with costs for the petitioner.
CancellationIn the judgmentThe court cancels the decision: the licence is returned, the termination of community service is cancelled, the prisoner is transferred or entitled to furlough. This is the full remedy, given when the flaw is clear.
Return to the authorityReconsiderationThe common remedy: the decision is cancelled and the matter goes back to the authority for a new decision, under the rules the court set, sometimes within a deadline. Here the second hearing is what matters.
DismissalAnd what else is possibleThe petition is dismissed, sometimes with costs. An appeal remains, and sometimes a renewed application to the authority after a change of circumstances, such as a new firearms application or a further parole hearing.

Sources: Administrative Courts Law, 2000, sections 5, 8 and 11; Prisons Ordinance, section 62a; Penal Law, section 51i; Firearms Law, section 12. In an administrative petition the procedural details (deadline, exhaustion, affidavit) are usually the difference between a hearing on the merits and dismissal outright.

What we actually do

First checkSend us the decision. We check which authority, which route (appeal, prisoner's petition, administrative petition, High Court), the deadline, and whether there is a flaw to build on. We say honestly whether there is a basis.
Appeal and hearingWe write the appeal to the firearms supervisor or the appeals committee, appear with you at the hearing before the community-service supervisor, apply to the Prison Service in writing. Many cases end here.
The petitionWe draft, file, ask for an interim order when needed, and appear in the District Court in Haifa, Nazareth or anywhere else, and in the High Court of Justice when that is the route.
AfterAppeal or application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, follow-up on the authority's compliance with the judgment, and where needed a renewed application when circumstances change.

The fee is set in advance, in writing, per proceeding. Appeal, petition and further appeal are separate stages.

052-642-4440

Questions we are asked about petitions

What is the difference between the High Court of Justice and the administrative court?

Same grounds, different places. Matters the law listed in the First Schedule (firearms licensing, the Traffic Ordinance, police and prison officers and more) are heard by the District Court sitting as an administrative court, with an appeal to the Supreme Court. Everything else, including most police decisions, goes straight to the High Court.

My firearms licence was revoked. What are the chances of getting it back?

It depends on the reason. Revocation following a closed criminal file, an unproven complaint or general intelligence information is attacked well by appeal to the supervisor within 45 days, and then by petition. Revocation following a conviction for violence or a protection order is much harder. Either way, file the appeal on time, otherwise the road to court closes.

The supervisor stopped my community service. Am I going to prison?

Not immediately. The decision can be challenged by petition to the District Court within 14 days, and you can ask that the remainder not be enforced until the ruling. The court checks whether a lawful hearing was held, whether the ground is proven and whether the termination is proportionate, and may order a return to community service.

A relative in prison is not getting medical care or furloughs. What do we do?

Apply to the Prison Service in writing and document it. If there is no answer or a negative one, file a prisoner's petition in the District Court of the prison's district. The hearing is in the prisoner's presence, usually within weeks. Parole board decisions are also challenged in the same court.

The licensing office will not renew my licence. Is that traffic or administrative?

Administrative. The decision is the licensing authority's, not a traffic court's. If the reason is medical, first an appeal to the medical appeals committee within 30 days. If the reason is something else (counting of a disqualification, conditions, a debt), an administrative petition within 45 days.

The police refused a licence for a demonstration. Is there anything to do?

Yes, and fast. A refusal or unreasonable conditions are challenged in the High Court of Justice, which hears such petitions urgently. The police may not refuse for lack of manpower, and conditions must be the minimum needed to keep order.

I have a police record of a closed file. Can it be deleted?

Yes. A file closed for lack of evidence or lack of public interest is recorded in the internal police register and erased automatically after seven years (five for a minor). Before that you can ask an officer of chief superintendent rank or above to cancel the record, and petition if refused.

More than 45 days have passed. Is it over?

Not necessarily. The court may extend the deadline for special reasons, and some proceedings (a prisoner's petition, for example) have no rigid deadline. But every day of delay needs an explanation. We check quickly.

Will the court replace the decision with a better one?

Usually not. The court checks whether the process was proper and the decision reasonable, and if not, cancels it or returns it to the authority. So the petition is built on the flaws: a hearing not held, information not checked, reasons not written, a disproportionate sanction.

How much does it cost?

You will know the fee exactly, in writing, before committing. Appeal, petition and further appeal are priced separately, and the court fee is separate. No surprises.

In the media, on decisions of authorities

26.04.2026 · WallaAppeal granted: the 26-year-old suspect released on conditions 20.09.2024 · WallaDistrict Court releases the "Abu Latif" extortion defendant to house arrest 14.07.2024 · N12The Kaplan clash: "The police ignore an unlawful demonstration"All mentions, by date

When did you receive the decision?

Name, number, and which authority. A lawyer calls back fast, checks the deadline and tells you the route. You can photograph the decision and send it on WhatsApp.