The German Bar Association sent a scathing letter to Marco Buschmann, the German Minister of Justice, in which it asks him to use his influence with the Israeli government in general and the Israeli Minister of Justice in particular to “prevent” the enactment of the proposed changes to the judicial system, which are intended to weaken the power of the Supreme Court and “To act in dialogue with the representatives of the law and justice system.” The request from the German Minister of Justice, who is supposed to visit Israel at the beginning of the week and meet with Levin’s opponent, stems from a comprehensive discussion held by representatives of the bureau, launched by its president last Thursday and reached “Globes”.
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The German Chamber, which is on friendly terms with its Israeli counterpart, warns in harsh and uncharacteristic terms that the proposed changes in the Israeli legal system “in their current form may not even meet the threshold conditions of a constitutional legal system”. She announced that she was joining in support of the “Black Robes Protest” against the proposed changes. “The Israeli justice system, which enjoys great prestige and reputation among the democratic countries, will be severely damaged,” writes the president of the bar, “if the changes are implemented.”
The discussions regarding the German Bar Association’s response to the issue took place last week, and also included a joint online conversation with Prof. Yoram Danziger, who served as a Supreme Court judge between 2007 and 2018. The letter details the main changes, which include “a plan to fundamentally change the existing legal system”, the ability for parliament to “overcome” Supreme Court decisions with a small majority. In addition, the German Chamber writes, “Planned changes in the procedures for selecting judges will be the beginning of a political influence on the appointments of judges.”
Because of this, the president of the bureau writes in a letter sent to the German Minister of Justice, in which he urges the bureau to try and influence the Israeli side. “As representatives of all areas of legal practice in Germany, we are committed – also internationally – to the existence and continuity of rule of law institutions in partner countries… The German Bar Association has privileged and long relations with Israel, with the Israeli Bar Association, characterized by close and frequent contact.”
The discussions in the last few days concluded that the Bar Association states that “the legal reforms in Israel will radically violate the balance between the legislative, executive and judicial authorities”. They also add that they will harm the lawyers in Israel, among other things because “unlike in Germany, every judge must have a history of working as a lawyer.”
Justice Minister Bushman has not yet responded to the letter, or publicly confirmed that he intends to visit Israel, amid pressure from the German Foreign Ministry to wait with official visits until a comprehensive policy for dealing with the current government in Israel is formulated.