Delay sought for hearing on voiding reasonableness law after AG backs petitioners

The government is asking the High Court to delay a hearing on a petition to strike down a law curtailing the court’s ability to void government decisions deemed “unreasonable,” after the attorney general told the court she couldn’t back the legislation and asked the bench to trash it.

Government lawyer Ilan Bombach is seeking an early October court date, rather than the current scheduled date of September 12.

He says in a request to the court that the government needs more time “to prepare an appropriate response,” after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara responded to the court by telling it that the law harmed rights and should be torn up.

“The attorney general’s response is really a move to bolster and strengthen the petitioners,” Bombach notes in the filing. He says her filing does not represent the government’s view and “is extreme to the utmost.”

The government had been given until September 6 to respond to the petition against the legislation, which bars the court from ruling on government decisions using a reasonableness test.

This is the second time he has requested a delay.