Israel's new Minister of Justice Yariv Levin has presented his plan for a comprehensive reform of the justice system, which is being called a "form of governance." The new government coalition sees the reform as a top priority and hopes to push it through the Knesset as quickly as possible.
Levin said, "I believe in Menachem Begin's remark that there are judges in Jerusalem but there is also a Knesset and a government, which are the clear expression of the will of the people. The constitutional revolution and the growing intervention of the court has eroded trust to a dangerous low and has not brought proper governance. People we didn't choose decide for us. This is not democracy."
The first and most outstanding change is the "overriding clause," which would allow the Knesset to re-enact any law disqualified by the Supreme Court by a simple majority of 61 MKs.
Another proposed change would be in the committee which selects Supreme Court justices. Levin said, "There would no longer be a situation in which the judges choose themselves behind closed doors and without any protocol." Two more politicians would be appointed to the committee, thus giving a majority on the committee to political appointees rather than jurists.
Levin also wants to cancel the concept of "reasonableness" as a test for the legitimacy of a law to help "restore the government's ability to make decision."
The final issue that Levin's reform tackles is the position of legal advisors. "There will be no more subordination of the government to an unelected rank. The legal advisers are what they are called. They should represent the government and not their private position."
Levin has for years been one of the biggest critics of the judicial system, and he has systematically opposed the disqualification of laws and the court's repeated intervention in Knesset decisions.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 5, 2023.
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