Knesset gives initial OK to bill ending AG’s authority over ministry legal advisers

The Knesset approved on Wednesday in its preliminary reading a bill that would significantly erode Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s authority over legal advisers to government ministries, in the government’s latest effort to weaken the authority of judicial officials.

The vote saw 58 MKs support the measure and 50 oppose it. The bill will now move to the Knesset House Committee to determine which committee it will be sent to for further discussion.

The bill, sponsored by Likud MK Avichai Boaron, would remove legal advisers working at various ministries from the jurisdiction of the attorney general to “strengthen their status and independence.”

Instead, legal advisers would be subordinate to the directors general of the ministries in which they serve, although they would still be permitted to consult with the attorney general.

“This bill is not an attack on the attorney general system, but an attempt to save it,” said Boaron.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the architect of the government’s planned judicial overhaul, applauded the bill as one that is “essential for government work” and that will “remedy the current illogical situation.”

The coalition, in efforts led largely by Levin, has been trying unsuccessfully for months to fire the attorney general, accusing her of working against the government and undermining its interests.

Baharav-Miara has opposed several of the government’s signature legislative initiatives, including its controversial proposed judicial overhaul, and has refused to defend the government in proceedings in the High Court of Justice against some of its policies and legislation.

In August, the government voted to dismiss Baharav-Miara, though the High Court unanimously ruled last month to annul the move, asserting that the government had failed to provide legal justification for its decision to change the way an attorney general is fired, and determining that the new system it designed was fundamentally flawed.

The coalition has also pushed legislation that would carve up the attorney general role into three separate positions and effectively deprive the attorney general of authority and independence. That legislation is being worked on by the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, in preparation for the first of the three readings necessary for it to be passed into law. Even if passed, it is certain to face challenges at the High Court.

Critics charge that the government’s judicial overhaul efforts are aimed at undermining democracy and eroding the system of checks and balances.