From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Herzog plan would nix efforts to turn government legal advisers into political appointees
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
President Isaac Herzog’s alternative framework for judicial and legal reform would preserve the status of government legal advisers as professional civil servants under the aegis of the Justice Ministry, unlike the government’s plans to turn them into political appointees.
A ministerial legal adviser could be removed from office if they have substantive and ongoing disagreements with the minister, subject to the approval of a special committee.
The stated positions of the attorney general and the ministerial legal advisers would be binding, as is the case today. A minister would, however, be able to obtain independent counsel in legal proceedings in which his ministry is involved, something currently impossible without the approval of the attorney general.
