Incoming justice minister ‘proud of our Supreme Court’

Designated justice minister Ayelet Shaked, whose efforts to limit the power of the Supreme Court have earned her criticism from the Israeli left, took a softer stance when she made remarks praising the court on Tuesday.

“We are proud of our Supreme Court,” Shaked, of the Jewish Home party, said in her first public statement since being named justice minister. “It is among the world’s leading high courts and its justices are outstanding.”

But she indicated she could work to curtail the court’s powers. “As justice minister and as the head of the Judicial Appointments Committee, I will give preference to the conservative approach,” Shaked told Romanian Justice Minister Robert Cazanciuc at a meeting in the Knesset on Tuesday.

Shaked, whose opposition to “judicial activism” — in which Supreme Court rulings strike down or bypass Knesset laws — is well known, was referring to the controversy in Israel between those in favor of maintaining the High Court of Justice’s power to roll back Knesset decisions and advocates of a more conservative approach.

When Shaked asked Cazanciuc whether Supreme Court judges in Romania had the authority to strike down laws made in the parliament, he laughed and said they did not. Romanian Supreme Court judges could only make recommendations, he said, that in some cases parliament was required to accept.

When Shaked asked Cazanciuc about Romania’s policy on the emerging nuclear agreement with Iran and expressed concern over the lifting of economic sanctions, he replied that Romania, as a member of the European Union, must abide by EU decisions.

Shaked faced a torrent of censure from the left after it was announced that she would be appointed justice minister.