Israel has been ravaged by the biggest constitutional crisis in its history since Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government announced a plan for judicial reform that would reduce the independence of the judiciary and increase executive control.
The legislation, the most controversial aspects of which are already progressing in the Knesset (Israeli parliament), sparked the largest protests in Israel’s history, with a record attendance of 650,000 on Sunday evening for this Monday, shortly after Netanyahu resigned as Defense Secretary, for Yoav Gallant have asked for the suspension of already passed legislation.
The government argues that Israel’s Supreme Court has historically interfered too much in political affairs, and that it is therefore necessary to limit its powers.
Opponents of the reform, in turn, argue that it is “vital to the democratic health” of a country to have an “independent” judiciary.
The most controversial points of the reform are the following:
The committee responsible for recommending the appointment of judges currently consists of nine members, including titular judges, representatives of the Israel Bar Association, members of the Knesset and the government. Therefore an agreement between all is necessary to choose them.
The reform proposed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin aims to increase the number of members of the commission from nine to eleven, as well as to change the composition of the commission itself: three ministers and three deputies from the ruling coalition, in addition to three independent judges and two opposition deputies, which would give the executive a majority of six out of eleven members.
This is a softened version of the law on the selection of judges, which was amended a week ago, as the original wording gave the government a majority of seven members, with absolute power to elect and dismiss all judges, including those of the STJ. This bill is expected to be passed by the Knesset this week.
The proposed changes are intended to prevent the STJ from reviewing legislation, including the Basic Law, a set of laws with constitutional status. The reform aims to require the repeal of a law to require the consensus of 80% of Supreme Court judges, whereas now only a simple majority is required.
This is a point that even some opponents of the reform defend, as many believe that the STF has too much power to overturn laws, though they differ in form and argue that more than a simple majority is needed for approval or amendment of basic laws. in parliament.
This is one of the aspects that has generated the most controversy, as it would allow a simple parliamentary majority (61 out of 120 deputies) to overturn STJ decisions when it came to repealing or amending laws.
Opponents of the law see this clause as a clear violation of the separation of powers and judicial independence and as such a serious threat to Israeli democracy.
The bill that includes the nullity clause, which also allows laws to be protected against judicial review, was adopted in the first instance two weeks ago. Final approval was delayed until May, after the Easter parliamentary holiday.
The reform proposed by the government aims to reclassify the positions of the ministries’ legal advisers, who were hitherto independent experts under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice, to politically elected lawyers. In addition, the advice of these advisers would no longer be binding and enforceable.
In this way, the respective ministers will have full control to choose and fire advisers, which for opponents of the reform implies a clear politicization of judicial controls.
The reform aims to limit the scope of the concept of “reasonableness” that allows courts to subject any government decision, including the appointment of government officials, to judicial review on their own initiative, based on whether they find the measures reasonable or unreasonable.
On the basis of this criterion, the STJ in January deemed the appointment as minister of the interior and health of ultra-Orthodox leader Aryeh Deri, months after he was convicted of tax fraud and escaped prison, in exchange for a court settlement in January “unreasonable” . who promised to leave politics.
Source: DN
