High Court gives Levin 10 more days to appoint Supreme Court president

Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter

While expressing deep frustration with Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the High Court of Justice gives him 10 extra days to appoint a new Supreme Court president, as the deadline it gave him in December passes today.

Levin has refused to appoint a new president for 15 months due to his opposition to the likely appointee Acting Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, a liberal, and has been ordered twice by the court in its capacity as the High Court to hold a vote for a new court president.

Levin sent the court a notice yesterday telling it that he was again postponing a vote due to what he said was his need to “clarify” allegations of misconduct by Amit.

The three justices on the panel, two conservatives and one liberal, insist that the only body authorized to evaluate any misconduct by Amit is the Judicial Selection Committee itself where the vote on a new president will be conducted.

Despite these points, the court says because of the “importance of appearances,” it has decided to give Levin another 10 days to bring the relevant claims against Amit to the committee for it to hear and discuss.

Media reports earlier this week alleged that civil lawsuits relating to property jointly owned by Amit and his brother put him in a conflict of interest in court proceedings he was involved in as a judge since those proceedings involved parties connected to the lawsuits. Amit says he had given his brother power of attorney over the property in question and was unaware of the proceedings, and therefore unaware he might have a conflict of interest.

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