In the video: Gottlieb will not withdraw my candidacy for the Judicial Selection Committee (Roni Knafo)
Elections for the judicial selection committee will be postponed by a month, due to the Likud's decision on Wednesday to vote against all candidates. The postponement of the elections immediately leads to a postponement of the many challenges that the committee representatives have to face. From the very question of convening the committee, through the appointments it will have to choose, to the most difficult question – will the representatives be able to agree on these appointments? These are the challenges that are currently hanging in the air, and which the representatives will face the day after the elections.
The composition of the committee includes nine members: the Minister of Justice and another minister determined by the government; two Knesset members, in which it is customary to have one MK from the coalition and one from the opposition – but this practice has also been broken in recent years; President of the Supreme Court; Vice President; one Supreme Court Justice; and two representatives of the Bar Association.
The committee currently includes Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Supreme Court President Esther Hayut, Deputy Supreme Court President Uzi Fogelman, Justice Yitzhak Amit, Attorney Ilana Saker and Attorney Muhammad Naamaneh. They are expected to be joined by a minister to choose the government and two representatives of the Knesset.
More in Walla!
- just before the vote on the Judicial Selection Committee; Netanyahu to convene coalition leaders and Likud faction
- Ben-Gvir vs. Shabtai and the Eshed Peoples: You Violated Freedom of Protest at Gay Pride Parade - You Broke the Law
- The Greek island that Israelis have not yet discovered - paradise within touching distance
Meeting of the Supreme Court Judicial Selection Committee, February 21, 2022 (Photo: official website, none)
The first challenge: Will the committee convene at all?
The first challenge awaiting the committee is whether the current justice minister, Yariv Levin, will convene it at all. Levin told the Knesset plenum about a week ago that "the process of selecting judges was done in an inappropriate and unacceptable way – a committee with a panel that cannot be accepted, is not appropriate and is inappropriate in a democratic country." In this, perhaps a hint of things to come - the non-convening of the committee.
If Levin decides not to convene the committee, he is expected to face a petition to the High Court of Justice asking the Supreme Court to order the justice minister to convene the committee that will elect, among other things, a president to the Supreme Court and one Supreme Court justice.
The High Court's rulings on the subject are quite clear: there is an obligation to convene the committee in order to appoint judges – what is called in legal parlance, "mandatory appointments" and not "authority appointments." Adv. Elad Mann, legal advisor of the Success Association, explains: "The exercise of administrative authority is a matter of duty and not of authority, and the authority must exercise it in accordance with the ruling, quickly and within a reasonable time. Stopping the appointment of judges and ignoring current needs of the system can lead to the determination that the delay in exercising the authority is unreasonable or inconsistent with the duty of governmental fairness."
Recently and as reported in Walla! For the first time, Minister Levin was forced to appoint a substitute head of the Civil Servants' Disciplinary Tribunal, following a petition to the High Court of Justice. The appointment was made following a petition filed by the person elected to the position, Adv. Aya Deutscher-Kornhauser, who currently serves in a senior position in the State Prosecutor's Office, and was joined by the Success Association.
Will he convene the committee or deal with a petition to the High Court? Yariv Levin (Photo: Reuven Castro)
However, attorney Yitzhak Bam raises the thorny question: What will happen if the High Court of Justice requires the minister to convene the committee and he refuses? "How will the High Court force Levin to convene the committee?" the lawyer wonders, "Suppose the High Court issues an absolute order requiring Levin to convene the committee, Levin refuses and does not convene the committee. What will the High Court do?" In such a case, we will again enter a deep constitutional crisis, which will force everyone to compromise – and probably the president of the country to intervene.
It should be noted that according to Basic Law: Judiciary, the Judicial Selection Committee may be convened if the number of its members is at least seven members. The committee currently has seven members.
However, it is not legally clear whether the absence of a representative from the Knesset and the government meets the definition of reducing the number of members. A former senior jurist who served in several positions in government ministries explained to Walla! "There is an opinion by the attorney general and a retired Supreme Court justice on another matter, which states that when a committee is established, it must be established with the maximum number, and only if a member of the committee is unable to serve later will it be possible to convene the committee."
The second challenge: appointing 34 judges
The second challenge awaiting the committee is the appointment of no fewer than 34 judges in all courts in Israel, according to data provided to Walla! by the judiciary. Among them are judges who must be appointed from the Supreme Court to the Magistrates' Courts.
Among the 34 justices, there is also the appointment of a new president to the Supreme Court, since the current president, Esther Hayut, is expected to turn 70 this October, the age at which judges retire. Justice Anat Baron, considered the most liberal benchmark on the Supreme Court, is also expected to retire this October.
Today, the appointment of a judge to the Supreme Court is done by a majority of seven members of the committee, according to the Gideon Saar Law passed by the Knesset in 2008. The appointment of judges to the other courts requires a majority of five out of nine members of the committee.
Expected to retire. Esther Hayut (Photo: Shlomi Gabay)
Eleven new judges should be appointed to the district courts: a vice president for the Tel Aviv District Court this November, and another five senior judges for the courts in Tel Aviv, Center, Jerusalem and Nazareth; All of these should be appointed in the coming months.
The magistrates' courts should appoint 11 new judges: two vice presidents of the courts in Ashkelon and Petah Tikva in July and October, respectively; four senior judges expected to be appointed in the coming months in the courts of Acre, Tel Aviv, Be'er Sheva and Nazareth; And other judges who are 'ordinary' to the courts from Rosh LeZion to Hadera.
The various labor courts are also awaiting appointments: a president for the Beer Sheva court, and three judges for the courts in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
The Third Challenge: Reaching Agreements
The third and most difficult challenge facing the committee is reaching an agreement on the identity of the judges to be appointed – from the president of the Supreme Court to the magistrates' court judges. In recent years, the question of agreements has been at the center of political clashes between the various members of the committee, as well as between the Supreme Court justices and representatives of the chamber who are members of it.
Despite all requests by the various journalists (including the undersigned) that the full minutes of the committee be exposed to the public, the minutes that are published are purely laconic and do not reflect the discussion held in the committee room.
It is a "red sheet" for members of the government. Justice Yitzhak Amit (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Since the committee will have to elect a new president to the Supreme Court, and since the current system is the senority system – that is, the oldest judge on the bench is the one appointed to the Supreme Court – the person expected to be appointed is Yitzhak Amit, who, according to various reports and statements, constitutes a red sheet for current members of the government.
In addition, the appointment of judges to district courts, some of whom will deal with administrative petitions, that is, petitions against state and municipal authorities, is also expected to provoke many controversies and lead to disagreements among the committee members. Now, it remains to be seen what will happen if and when the committee is convened.
- news
- News in Israel
- Criminal & Legal News
Tags
- Judicial Selection Committee
- Supreme Court
- Courts