On video: Inauguration ceremony of the new ombudsman, attorney Gali Beharev-Miara (photo: Leam)
One of the demands that the Likud put forward in the coalition negotiations is to turn the position of the legal advisor in the government ministries into a position of trust.
This is in contrast to the way in which the appointment is currently made - through a tender, so that the minister's representative in the tender has an equal voice to the representative of the Attorney General and the Civil Service Commission.
To understand what the legal advisors to the government ministries think about the proposal to change the way they are elected, voila!
Contact 20 of the legal advisors in the various offices to hear their opinion.
However, only three bothered to reply, and the reply was also laconic.
The Ministry of Finance replied: "We will not comment."
In the foreign ministry they answered in a puzzling way, as if there is no legal advisor in the ministry and as if a change in the way he is chosen will not affect the work of the ministry.
"We have no reason to respond, nothing to do with us at all," the ministry said.
They called the Ministry of Internal Security and were polite, but explained that they prefer not to address the issue.
gatekeeper
Legal Adviser to the Government (Photo: Roni Kanfo)
The lack of response from the legal advisors to the government ministries raises many questions, since one of the main arguments against the move is the desire to keep the legal advisor as a gatekeeper, whose role is to protect the public interest.
However, now that the legal advisors had the opportunity to express their opinion - most of them filled their mouths with water.
To clarify, the proposal for change is not new, two similar proposals have already been placed on the Knesset's table.
One by the former Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked, which was named the "Law of the Attorneys", the main point of which was a change in the way legal advisors are selected in the government ministries, so that instead of the latter being chosen through a tender, as is customary in government ministries today, they will be chosen by a search committee. The second proposal that he drafted Knesset member Amir Ohana from the Likud demands that the position of legal advisor in the government ministries be made a position of trust, so that he will be appointed by the government like the CEOs of the government ministry.
Those in favor of the change in making the legal advisor in government ministries a position of trust, among whom one can find mainly members of the Knesset from the right side and academics from the conservative side, claim that the job is to provide legal advice to the minister, and therefore he must be a person of his trust.
On the other hand, those who oppose the change, among whom one can find mainly Knesset members from the center-left side of the political map as well as retired academics and legal advisors in the government ministries who are identified with the liberal side, claim that the role of the legal advisor in the government ministries is also to be the gatekeeper who protects the public interest.
A person who previously served in a senior legal position explained: "The elected officials may score an own goal here. Often, when they criticize the minister or his staff, their answer is - 'It passed the legal consultation.' If they appoint an ombudsman on behalf of the minister - there will no longer be Whoever can determine that the action of the elected officials is correct."
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Damage to public trust
Those who did agree to speak for the quote are the lawyers Ahaz Ben Ari, the former legal advisor to the security system, and Mike Blass, the retired deputy ombudsman. Ben Ari told Walla: "This is a destructive step for the rule of law, in the immediate term it has the dimension of damaging the public's trust in the government, Because the legal advisors represent the public interest and are entrusted with the proper implementation of the law.
The intention to replace them with legal advisors chosen through positions of trust is intended to cause legal advisors who have a political agenda to replace the current advisors, that's why they will be elected to the position, and they will try to distort the law."
If they distort the law, will the courts stop them?
"We want to believe that there are courts that will eventually stop them in the event that they give a distorted interpretation of the law, but we also want to address this part, to eliminate the reason for reasonableness - this dam is also about to be breached. In addition, there are many small, everyday decisions that do not ultimately reach my home The law, most things don't reach the courts. The public doesn't know about them and that's a good thing, nevertheless a government needs to conduct itself and doesn't need to constantly bicker in the courts.
It is precisely the current agenda, if it is not controlled by proper legal advisors, that can cause the system to reach places Others you don't want to know about. The attempt to change the structure of legal advice in the government offices is part of a larger plan to take care of the courts, the way the judges are selected and their powers, so the bottom line is I'm not sure if an inappropriate legal advisor will do something that is inappropriate then my daughter The trial will stop him."
In the United States, legal advisors are appointed in positions of trust
"We cannot take from other methods only what is convenient for us, in the United States it is part of a larger method. It is true that the legal advisors of the various departments in the government are positions of trust, people who come from the political camp of the ministers, but the culture is completely different. Their appointment needs the approval of Congress and there make life difficult for them, it's an event to appoint legal counsel is not that easy.
Second, these people and I have seen it from personal experience, because I worked with the US Department of Defense. These people reach two years and return to the private sector usually, and during their tenure they give less Or more to the professional level subordinate to them to work so that they are not there forever."
The message got through - put a gun to the head of the legal advisers to the government offices
Mike Blass, the former deputy ombudsman, is unequivocally opposed to the initiative. "We have been trying to promote this initiative for 13 years.
In 2009 they wanted to pass a law saying that all the legal advisers to the government ministries would be fired within a year and the ministers would be able to appoint new advisers under those who were fired.
The law did not pass, but I will never forget what a certain Knesset member told me, that after the bill, it should no longer be promoted, because the legal advisors are fine, they straightened up.
The message got through and it's terrible.
They put a gun to the head of the legal advisers to the government offices."
According to Blas, "it's not that there weren't cases where differences of opinion arose between the minister and the legal adviser of the ministry that the minister trusts.
A minister came to us in the past (in his role as deputy ombudsman, BA) who did not get along with a legal advisor, it happens, but it is spot on and then we take care of it.
There is no root problem here, because of which the method of appointing legal advisers needs to be changed."
Blas expressed strong opposition to Knesset member Ohana's proposal.
"I don't know what model will be promoted, but assuming that it is his model, I oppose it because the role of the legal advisor in the government ministries, according to the government's decision on the matter, is to act as a consultant and assist in formulating the policy of the minister and the CEO and to do as much as possible to implement it quickly and efficiently within the framework of the law, And at the same time he must act to prevent the violation of the law.'
Any legal advisor who comes in a position of trust, and in fact owes his position to a minister, will not be able to say 'no' to that minister, with the sword of dismissal hovering over his head.
In practice, he will not be able to fulfill half of his role, which is to act to prevent violations of the law."
"A destructive step for the rule of law."
Ahaz Ben Ari (photo: Walla! NEWS system, Ariel Harmoni)
"And there is another layer to my opposition to this initiative," added Blass.
"The side of professionalism. Ministers in the State of Israel on average serve less than two years in office. Which means that if a minister is replaced, as a rule, the legal advisor of the ministry, similar to the director general of the ministry, will also be replaced with him.
It takes time to learn the law pertaining to a government ministry and to promote legislation, and frequent changes of the head of the system will harm the professionalism of the ministry's legal bureau."
Regarding the model proposed by former minister Shaked, Blas said that "the model raises other problems, but it should be remembered that Shaked said it herself in the Knesset, in 2018 , when she wanted to promote her initiative - 'I want to say this both from personal experience and from a survey I did with government ministers, that there is no doubt that most of the legal advisors in the government ministries are professional people who do their work faithfully.'"
"If there is no factual basis for a systemic difficulty in working with legal advisors, then why is change necessary?" Blass wondered.
"The fear is of opening an opening for corruption, for example, in tenders and distribution of financial support, and a slippery slope that will extend to additional gatekeepers in the public service, who are supposed to be professional and not political."
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