The plan for changes in the justice system presented by the Minister of Justice Yariv Levin at the beginning of the month provoked many reactions: economists, businessmen, hightists and more. The lawyers’ offices were not left indifferent either.
Law professor warns: “If there is no compromise in the reform, Israel will be in a constitutional crisis”
Eisenkot in criticism of the protest: “Not to encourage high-tech companies to take money out of the country”
“My main concern is that the Israeli justice system will suffer a serious injury to its independence if the reform is implemented,” says attorney Mia Oren, VP Legal (head of the legal department) at Logz.io, “the extensive changes that Minister Levin wants to make as part of the proposed reform in the composition of the committee for the election of judges and the majority required for the appointment of judges will cause the committee to become a body completely controlled by the coalition, without balancing factors, and as a result of this, politics will enter the judicial system through the front door.”
“The reform includes other significant changes,” she noted, “according to which, on the one hand, the positions of legal advisers in the government ministries will be transformed from professional positions to positions of political trust, the reason for reasonableness will be eliminated, the courts will be prevented from discussing basic laws, and the Supreme Court will be subject to significant restrictions in regards to invalidating laws that contradict the the Basic Laws, and on the other hand, a superseding clause will be enacted that will allow the Knesset to return and re-enact those laws that were invalidated by the Supreme Court.”
What are the consequences?
“For 75 years, the judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court, has been a strong fortress that maintains the stability of democracy in the country and the protection of human and citizen rights. The balances, brakes and separation between the three authorities are the fundamental principles of every democratic state. The emerging reform constitutes a real threat to this separation in that the executive authority will de facto control the judicial authority.”
“In addition, I would like to mention that the current Knesset has already begun legislative processes of laws that may harm the principle of equality before the law and human rights in Israel, such as the proposal to amend the Law Prohibiting Discrimination in Products and Services, according to which discrimination will not be considered prohibited if it was done to prevent damage to the religious beliefs of the businessperson or the public His clients. In view of the proposed reform, I am concerned that the legal system will not be able to provide the necessary relief in order to protect and protect disadvantaged populations from being discriminated against and from harming their basic rights, if such bills are passed,” she added.
How do you think the reform will affect the business sector?
“I hypothesize that if the planned reform is approved by the Knesset, this may affect the economic stability in the country, and the way the State of Israel is perceived in the world. Israel was and still is an international model for innovation, entrepreneurship, research and development among the leaders in the world. At the same time, foreign companies and foreign investors want to make sure that they operate in a country where there is an independent and stable legal system that will be at their disposal in case of need, and will protect their investments and their assets in Israel.
“This stability is required, all the more so, in the field of high-tech, which has undergone upheavals on a global level in the past year. The changes included in the reform may cause international companies to consider whether, in view of the legal changes expected here, Israel will continue to be a stable basis for the flow of new investments, when there may be Direct implications for the business sector.
“I want to believe that the government will not ignore the many voices heard from all parts of the economy, the high-tech protest, the statements of opinion published by thousands of lawyers, the letters of hundreds of leading professors in economics and academia, dozens of CEOs of government ministries and the words of bank CEOs, who expressed , regardless of their political positions, there is a fear of actual damage to democracy and the rule of law in the country, and the economic instability that may follow.”
Is there a ray of light?
“It’s hard for me to see at the moment any ray of light that could come out as a result of the reform to the business market.”
Buki Katzman (Photo: Tal Shahar)There are good consequences
Attorney Baruch (Buki) Katzman, who deals with civil and commercial litigation at the law firm AYR – Amr Reiter Jean, Shuchtovitch & Co., holds a number of public positions, serves as an arbitrator and mediator and previously served as deputy head of the Bar Association. Katzman believes that the Levin reform will not be realized in the broad configuration that it is now in question: “I believe that there will be changes in the legal system, but there will not be a broad reform that will destroy the legal fortress.
“I believe that in the end common sense will prevail, the parties will talk to each other and come to agreements regarding the various changes, even though the gap seems unbridgeable. Therefore, and assuming that there will indeed be changes, but not a legal revolution, that reform can only strengthen the legal system, which is one of the best systems and the most important ones we have, as well as to maintain the power of the legislative authority, all in accordance with the principle of the separation of powers, which must not be violated.”
What will it do to the Israeli economy at the macro and micro level? For small, medium and large companies?
“The question is in what configuration and what scope of legal changes will take place. Accepting the reform in its current, broad configuration, without dialogue, without an orderly procedure in which the parties will try to reach understandings and balances, may cause damage in the long term – both at the macro and micro level. Damages, since the level of security in the economic system is directly related to the strength of the legal system. There will be changes, not immediate, and certainly not with the intensity that all those petition signers are expecting.”
How will this affect the consumer at the end?
“I believe that at the end of the day the reform will soften and its effect will not be so acute. It’s also a little difficult for me to connect with all those prophecies of rage that talk about a severe economic crisis, the collapse of the high-tech industry. I think that the more the reform goes through in its current configuration, the greater damage may be to that consumer of the legal system. It is important to note that further changes in the legal system may benefit the end consumer. For example, changes such as increasing the number of judges, shortening the time of conducting legal proceedings, reducing the burden on the courts and more will lead to the efficiency of the all-important legal system.”
In what way will the changes affect investments in the country?
“If the legal system is weakened as a result of the reform, if the feeling is that the legal system is toothless, that there is no balance between the authorities, and the like, then there is reason to fear that investments in the country will be harmed. Foreign funds, foreign investors, take into account the social situation in the country, the configuration of the government and more. Investors will think twice and more about investing in a country where, for example, the politicians control the judicial system. it’s clear.
“That’s why it’s important to see what changes will be made in the end as part of the reform, and when one has to keep in mind another fact – many investments may actually benefit from reform. A correct reform can limit regulation. Therefore, also regarding the matter of investments, I believe that we should not enter into black bile or despondency since this is not a situation where Reform necessarily equals the flight of investors. This is not the equation. It is important to see what the amendments will be in the end, what the degree of influence will be on the political system, what will be the balance between the various authorities.”
Is there a similar model in the world that you can compare this reform to and indicate the expected results?
“A similar, identical model in the world does not exist. In some countries, where radical changes have been made in the legal system, some of which are included in the proposed legal reform, the system of governance is different, so the balance between the authorities is maintained. For example, in the various countries where there is an escalation clause, similar to the escalation clause proposed in our reform, there are other balances as a result of a different government structure. Therefore, to come and claim that such changes have already been made in other countries is not a very accurate claim since apples are compared to apples and governance methods are compared to governance methods and legal reform is compared to legal reform that takes place in the same environment of governance.”
Is there anything good that the reform can do for the business market?
“In general, there are quite a few steps that can be taken to make it easier, to help the business market. The latter suffers, among other things, from excess regulation, bureaucracy and many barriers. There is no doubt that excess regulation, a lot of bureaucracy sometimes alienates investors, harms the business environment. In the proposed reform you can also find aspects of removing barriers, reducing regulation, but everything should be examined with the other planned measures. It is not possible to examine a number of actions that can reduce regulation separately from the other proposed measures. My hope is that in the end a formula will be found that will bring, among other things, benefits to the business sector. We must look for and find those rays of light. I have no doubt that they will be found.”
Prof. Itai Bar Siman Tov (Photo: Bar Ilan University)between Hungary and Turkey
Prof. Itai Bar-Siman-Tov, from the Faculty of Law at Bar Ilan University, does not agree at all. “If the Levin plan succeeds, a neutered judicial system will be created, without the ability to effectively supervise the power of the government, and no less worrying – an independent judicial system, to which judges and legal advisors will be appointed “on behalf of”, who will not want to effectively supervise the government anyway. Therefore, the real question is not what the Levin plan will do to the justice system, but what it will do to the regime in Israel.”
Prof. Bar-Siman-Tov finds in the reform alarming similarities to Hungary, and to a large extent to Poland or Turkey. “When you look at the components of the Levin plan as a whole and their cumulative effect, you find a lot of similarity to similar plans of autocratic rulers who through similar “reforms” turned independent legal systems into neuter legal systems controlled by the ruler. The experience from these countries shows that the combination of weakening the control tools of the entities that can supervise On the rule and its application to the ruler’s loyalists, is a recurring motif. Experience there also shows that it is always only a means and a first step on the way to turning a free democracy into an autocracy masquerading as a democracy.
“In the comparative discussions, an interesting thing is currently happening in the discourse of the supporters of the Levin plan. There are those who deny the comparison with Hungary and point to specific elements of the plan that can be found in free democracies. However, these biased comparisons ignore the whole and the background conditions, which clearly raises the fear that the “reform” will not transform us to Canada, but to Hungary.
“Others among the supporters of the reform therefore adopted a different line and that is to claim that Hungary is actually a great democracy, but this claim is unfounded. If you look at all the accepted comparative ratings of the degree of democracy of countries (if it is for example Freedom House or V-DEM), they all show how in a similar process For what is planned for Israel, Hungary has deteriorated from a free democracy to an autocracy that maintains a hollow shell of a democratic appearance.”
How do you predict this will end?
“There are many reasons to be pessimistic. According to media reports, the government is still determined to pass the Levin plan and is not ready for real compromises, but is at most ready for cosmetic changes that will give the cover of a compromise. And in the end, in our parliamentary system, the government controls the Knesset and has the majority to pass In addition, there is a large public that has serious complaints against the judicial system, which to date have not received a respectful and satisfactory response, and the supporters of the program manage to make good use of this.
“To this we can add that the opposition in the Knesset, in general, is weak and divided and suffers from a lack of leadership. If there is nevertheless a reason for optimism, it is that the majority of the people are not fooled by the government’s arguments and understand that this is not about necessary and proper corrections in the justice system, but about a regime revolution that endangers Israeli democracy. There is an awakening A tremendous public that comes from below, from the people and civil society, and the encouraging thing is that it crosses sectors.
“It seems that the people of Israel, in all its sectors and despite many other disputes, are ready to fight together so that their democracy will not be taken away from them. In the pessimistic scenario, the government will ignore the public protest and use its power to enact its plans and then continue to fortify its power and suppress the opposition. In the optimistic scenario, public pressure will bring the government to agree to enter into a dialogue process of building real agreements, which will provide a proper response to justified criticisms of the judicial system, but also a proper response to the justified concerns about the castration of the judicial system and the elimination of democracy.”
Ben Rabinovitch (photo: amiti vc)want diversity
And not only lawyers are busy with the question of the possible consequences of the reform of the legal system on the businesses in Israel. Ben Rabinovitch, founder and director of the venture capital fund Amiti: “Companies need a stable and consistent rule of law. The P&S rating agency has already announced that Israel’s credit rating will be damaged if there is no independent judicial authority in Israel. These are things that are important to the economic base.
“Companies and investors care if the state supports diversity and inclusion. There are several large investors around the world who have already made it clear that this is part of their condition for investment, so if we go against this trend, it will hurt us. For that matter, the more women we integrate into key positions and the Arab and ultra-Orthodox population is also given a voice In the high-tech industry, this will make Israeli technology much stronger.
“The Jewish community in the USA, its political leaders and investors, are silent at the moment and it’s a shame. Everyone’s going to complain after it’s over. It is important that they raise their voices now, not later. They should share their point of view and say that they want an Israel that is a democracy, which includes the protection of minority rights, the rule of law and an independent judicial system.”