A judicial reform bill proposing to restrict the High Court of Justice’s ability to engage in judicial review has been eased, Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman said Sunday during the panel’s session.
The revised bill would allow a majority consensus of 12 or 13 justices to strike regular legislation deemed in contradiction with Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws.
The previous iterations of the proposed bill that is set for a vote in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday restricted judicial review to an extended bench of 15 justices in unanimous agreement of a law’s violation of Basic Laws.
Rothman, of the Religious Zionist Party, said the rationale for requiring 15 justices in unanimity for judicial review was to overcome biases created by the composition of the court.
“I see great merit in the criticisms made here by experts and MKs, and the reason that in the first place, a version of 15 out of 15 was determined in the bill is because I thought it was a good starting point for negotiations as a proposal voted on by at least five MKs from the opposition,” he said. “Unfortunately, since they broke the rules and are not conducting negotiations, I am forced to conduct negotiations with [Justice] Minister [Yariv] Levin.”
Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak rejected Rothman’s negotiation reasoning, saying an easing to a 12 to 13 majority had been anticipated.
"If [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, Levin and Rothman elect all 15 in the committee by a majority of 8 against (perhaps) 1, what does it matter to them which majority of the High Court will 'reject' laws?"
Vladimir Beliak
“If [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, Levin and Rothman elect all 15 in the committee by a majority of eight against one, what does it matter to them which majority of the High Court will ‘reject’ laws?” Beliak asked on Twitter, referring to a bill that changed the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee, which had passed first reading last Monday and had been sent back to the committee for review. The bill also restricted judicial review to non-Basic Laws.
National Unity MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen also dismissed the idea that easing of the bill was good news, saying the new majority had been Levin’s initial position.
“In any case, what was and remains is the frightening fact that judges will not be able to protect freedom of speech, equality and everything that is not ‘expressly’ written in the law, while on the other hand, we are left with a broad overriding clause against the courts that is given to any future government,” she said.
Farkash-Hacohen referred to a clarification by Rothman about the bill, who last Monday said the bill would disallow judicial review on the basis of rights not explicitly written in Basic Laws and derived from Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.
What is the Override Law?
The override clause is another provision of the bill that would allow the Knesset to overrule the High Court’s striking of a law with a simple majority of 61 MKs.
Gilad Kariv resigns from committees
Labor MK Gilad Kariv on Sunday said he would be resigning from joint committees between the Law Committee and other Knesset committees in protest against Rothman.
“You manage the committee in a predatory manner, and I am not ready to represent the committee in the additional committees while you are managing the coup d’état here,” Kariv said.
"You manage the committee in a predatory manner and I am not ready to represent the committee in the additional committees while you are managing the coup d'état here."
Gilad Kariv
Rothman proposed another clause for discussion at the Sunday session, allowing for the High Court to apply judicial review in a situation in which the law had not passed in the Knesset with a certain majority or a certain number of readings.
This is a developing story.