Chief Justice Hayut pans Levin over failure to convene Judicial Selection Committee
Supreme Court president says shortage of judges is damaging to public; reportedly gives her blessing to bill that enables extending ombudsman’s tenure without panel
Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut on Monday rebuked Justice Minister Yariv Levin for failing to convene the country’s Judicial Selection Committee. In a statement, Hayut said she takes “a very grave view of the fact [that the panel has not met]… given the significant shortage of judges and the resulting damage to the service provided to the public due to the significant load on the system.”
Levin has indicated he will hold off on convening the committee until he can legislate a change to its composition that will give the coalition greater control over the process of choosing judges.
The planned move is a central part of the government’s highly controversial judicial overhaul, which has sparked widespread opposition.
Hayut’s remarks followed a Kan news report that said she had met recently with Levin and given her okay to legislation that temporarily extends the term of Ombudsman of the Israeli Judiciary Uri Shoham without convening the committee. Under current law, only the committee can select or extend the term of the ombudsman, who oversees complaints from the public about judges. Shoham is currently set to end his term in November.
Hayut confirmed the planned arrangement in an earlier statement. It appeared to signify her de facto acceptance that the committee will not be convened in the coming months.
The bill is expected to have the backing of opposition party Yesh Atid due to Hayut’s reported cooperation with the move, Kan said.
Last week Yesh Atid and opposition leader Yair Lapid sent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Levin a letter threatening to petition the High Court of Justice to force Levin to convene the Judicial Selection Committee if the justice minister does not do so within 14 days.
Lapid’s threat came after the Knesset elected a far-right lawmaker to sit on the committee, joining an opposition MK and becoming the second Knesset representative on the panel.
Levin has called the panel’s current makeup — which splits power between political and professional representatives — “invalid” for a democracy. Retooling the committee to put it under political control is core to Levin’s plan to overhaul the judiciary, and Netanyahu has said that the coalition will submit a bill to remake the committee in the Knesset’s winter session, which opens in October.
In its current format, one coalition and one opposition MK have seats on the nine-member panel, which also comprises the justice minister and one additional cabinet member, three Supreme Court justices and two representatives of the Israel Bar Association. Seven votes are needed to appoint High Court justices, which means the justices and the coalition representatives must agree on such appointments. Levin’s planned legislation to remake the committee, which was suspended by Netanyahu in March, would give the coalition almost-complete control over all appointments of judges.
According to data from the judicial authority obtained by the Walla outlet, there are 21 judge positions that need to be filled, and by the end of the year, 22 judges and senior court registrars are expected to retire. There are a further 11 new judicial positions that have been approved, making a total of 54 court positions that need to be filled.
