Supreme Court acting president Justice Uzi Vogelman yesterday rejected Minister of Justice Yariv Levin's proposal that hard line conservative Justice Yosef Elron serve as Supreme Court president for one year. The Supreme Court justices have today slammed close the door on Levin's initiative and announced that if he does not convene the judicial selection committee in the coming days, they plan to rule on the petition against him already at the beginning of September.
In a decision published this morning, Justices Yael Willner, Ofer Grosskopf and Alex Stein ruled that due to the failure to reach agreements on appointments to the Supreme Court, the Minister of Justice must convene the judicial selection committee in order to appoint a president and new justices to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court justices also insist that the mechanism for appointments is set by law: a simple majority for the president (five out of nine committee members) and a special majority for appointing justices (seven out of nine).
In practice, this means that the liberal camp in the committee, which consists of the representatives of the justices, the Israel Bar Association and the representative of the opposition, and which holds a majority in the committee, would be able to approve the appointment of Judge Yitzhak Amit as Supreme Court president in accordance with the seniority system.
A rebuke to Levin
The Supreme Court justices have reminded Levin that they delayed for a significant period the decision on the petition by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, demanding that the Minister of Justice choose a new president and justices for the Supreme Court. However, following the failure of compromise talks between Levin and Vogelman, which was announced last night, the justices now expect Levin to convene the judicial selection committee in order to make the appointments.
In their announcement the three justices even rebuked Levin by writing, "Out of respect for the minister in charge of the justice system, and knowing that the values of the rule of law and the good of the Israeli justice system are what counts for him, we express hope that he will act in the coming days to set in motion the aforementioned decision-making mechanism."
After the hearing that took place on the the Movement for Quality Government petition in July, the justices encouraged the parties to reach agreements, and Justice Stein even stressed, "A bad compromise is better than a good verdict." Their decision this morning indicates that the Supreme Court is no longer willing to wait for agreements that have not been reached, and is now demanding that Levin appoint a permanent president and new judges for the Supreme Court.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 27, 2024.
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