AG’s office says bill to have the Knesset choose the Supreme Court president violates ‘democratic values’

The Attorney General’s Office tells Justice Minister Yariv Levin that a bill proposed by Likud MK Tali Gotliv to have the Knesset elect the president of the Supreme Court instead of the Judicial Selection Committee would, if passed, constitute an abuse of legislative authority and “severely violate core democratic values.”

The bill is being considered today by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, chaired by Levin, which decides which private members’ bills will receive government support in the Knesset.

Levin has refused to appoint a new Supreme Court president since Esther Hayut retired from the position in October 2023, leading the court to rule in September last year that the justice minister is obligated to hold a vote to appoint a new president, and then in December gave him a fixed deadline of January 16 to make the appointment after he dragged his feet following the earlier ruling.

Deputy Attorney General Avital Sompolinsky tells Levin that Gotliv’s bill entails “changing the rules of the game during the game” given the pending deadline to appoint a new president, and would also constitute an “abuse of constituent authority” should the Knesset use its power to pass a law in such a manner.

Sompolinsky adds that the legislation would also politicize the process of appointing Supreme Court presidents and undermine the independence of the judiciary, since it would entail the appointment of the head of the judiciary by the legislature.

She also notes that the Supreme Court president has an important role in “appointing, selecting, suspending, and firing judges” which require “independence in carrying out these functions and autonomy from political officials.”

There is a legal impediment to advancing the bill, Sompolinsky concludes.

The bill is thought to have little chance of being advanced regardless, since its submission was not coordinated with Levin and because there is no time to pass it through the legislative process before the court’s deadline on January 16.