Acting Supreme Court Chief Justice Uzi Vogelman yesterday rejected Justice Minister Yariv Levy’s proposal that hard-line conservative Justice Yosef Elron serve as Supreme Court Chief Justice for one year. Supreme Court justices closed the door on Levy’s motion today, announcing that they plan to rule on the petition against him as early as September unless he convenes a judicial selection committee in the coming days.
In a ruling published this morning, Judges Yael Willner, Ofer Grosskopf and Alex Stein ruled that since no agreement had been reached on appointments to the Supreme Court, the Minister of Justice must convene a selection committee of judges to appoint a president and a new judge. judges to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court justices also insist that the mechanism for appointments is determined by law: a simple majority for the president (five out of nine members of the committee) and a special majority (seven out of nine) to appoint judges.
In practice, this means that the liberal camp, which has a majority on the committee, can agree to appointing judges to the committee, as well as representatives of the Israel Bar Association and the opposition. Judge Yitzhak Amit was appointed to the position of President of the Supreme Court according to the seniority system.
A remark to Levin
The Supreme Court judges reminded Levin that they had long delayed a decision on the application by the Quality Government Movement in Israel, demanding that the Minister of Justice elect a new president and judges to the Supreme Court. But after the collapse of compromise talks between Levin and Vogelman announced last night, the justices are now waiting for Levin to convene a judicial selection committee to make the appointments.
In their announcement, the three judges even reprimanded Levy: “Out of respect for the minister in charge of the justice system and knowing that the values ​​of the rule of law and the well-being of the Israeli justice system are important to him, we hope that he will act in the coming days to activate the aforementioned decision-making mechanism.” will pass.”
After a July hearing on the Quality Government Movement’s petition, the justices encouraged the parties to reach a settlement, with Justice Stein even saying that “a bad compromise is better than a good verdict.” Their decision this morning shows that the Supreme Court is no longer willing to wait for agreements that have not already been reached and is now asking Levin to appoint a permanent president and new judges to the Supreme Court.
Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – published on August 27, 2024.
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