Towards a dramatic reform: Justice Minister Yariv Levin knows this evening (Wednesday) about the advancement of a series of moves – each of which is an earthquake in itself. This was reported by Amit Segal, the senior political commentator of News 12.
Among the changes: promotion of the superseding clause by a majority of 61, the cancellation of the reason of reasonableness and politicians will replace the lawyers in the committee for selecting judges, and the transformation of the legal advisers in the government offices into positions of trust.
Segal points out that this is not the complete list of the moves – but only those that will be promoted in the Knesset in the first reading as early as next week or in two weeks at the latest.
The moves that will be promoted:
Changing the composition of the committee for the selection of judges
The majority of the judges and lawyers in the committee for the selection of judges will be abolished – and instead of the two lawyers will come another representative from the government and another representative from the Knesset. Judges will still have veto power, but politicians will for the first time have a majority in the commission.
Override clause by a majority of 61
The Knesset will be able to overcome the High Court with a majority of 61, and the court will be prohibited by law from invalidating fundamental laws.
Cancellation of the reasonable cause
The timing here is particularly dramatic: it is the eve of the hearing at the High Court regarding the disqualification of Deri’s appointment due to the reason of reasonableness. The government is already making it clear that in any case it will not allow the disqualification of Deri on grounds of reasonableness or due to the disqualification of the amendment to the Basic Law that was enacted for him.
These are only some of the changes, but they are going to shake the legal system from the ground up.
Ariel Kahana, the political columnist of ‘Israel Hayom’, tweeted: “The Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, will present the ‘governance reform’ tonight. Contrary to the spins that will flood the media in a minute, the reform was not born because of the Netanyahu trial and is not related to the Deri law. Levin has been promoting this exact agenda for 20 years.
“I myself held an interview with him on the subject back when he was a young attorney and political activist beginning in intelligence.
“The reform is intended to restore balance to the relationship between the authorities, after the legal revolution led by Aharon Barak – a revolution that the people, who are the sovereign, were never asked about.
Now the checks, balances and democratic rights will be returned to their place. And it is important to emphasize, many leftists support the reform. Daniel Friedman, Haim Ramon and Manny Mautner are just examples.”
Opposition Chairman Yair Lapid: “Not only will we fight in every possible way against each and every one of the measures that Levin’s opponent will announce tonight, I am announcing in advance that we will cancel them the day we return to power. Those who carry out a unilateral coup against the regime in Israel should know that we are not obligated to it in any way.”