High Court agrees to hear petition against government control over judicial ombudsman

The High Court of Justice agrees to hear a petition filed by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel against a recently passed law granting the coalition control over the appointment of a judicial ombudsman, the official with responsibility for investigating complaints of misconduct against judges.

Justice Yosef Elron orders the state to file its response by April 2. Elron rejects, however, the petition’s demand for an interim order freezing implementation of the law.

Movement for Quality Government in Israel filed its petition on Thursday, arguing that the new law allows the coalition to directly influence the appointment of the ombudsman and that it therefore harms the independence of the judges.

The petition also argues that the fact that the law was passed while ombudsman position is vacant means the legislation has an “illegitimate retrospective” component, and that it was designed to allow this specific coalition to assert influence over the current appointment process.

The new law “undermines the independence of the judiciary,” Movement for Quality Government says, and argues that its immediate implementation would cause “serious, real, and irreversible damage” to democracy.

“The amendment violates the principle of judicial independence, which is enshrined in the Basic Law: Judiciary,” the organization asserts.

Proponents of the legislation, including Justice Minister Yariv Levin, argued that the former system whereby the justice minister and the Supreme Court president had to agree on a candidate gave too much power to the judiciary over the appointment of an official who is supposed to hold judges to account.