Court says government can’t boycott attorney general or appoint new one until it rules

The High Court of Justice has issued an injunction barring the government from appointing a new attorney general or refusing to work with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara until the bench issues further instructions following a cabinet vote dismissing her from office.

The court also affirms that its earlier ruling that the government’s decision to fire Baharav-Miara will not go into effect until it can rule on petitions against her dismissal.

The court also asserts that the “normative status” of Baharav-Miara’s legal opinions on the government remain in effect, referring to the legally binding nature of the attorney general’s instructions to the government regarding its actions.

The same applies to decisions by prosecutions, which her office oversees, the court adds.

The government has threatened to boycott Baharav-Miara and not invite her to key government forums to implement her firing in a de facto way and bypass the court, which has said her dismissal will not take effect until it rules on the legality of the procedure used to remove her. Government figures indicated after the vote that it saw her dismissal as effective immediately regardless of the court.

The injunction comes after liberal government watchdog groups filed petitions to the court immediately after the cabinet vote requesting it bar the government from hiring a new attorney general and changing its relationship with Baharav-Miara before a final ruling, in order to prevent the government “establishing facts on the ground.”