High Court orders Levin to explain his blocking of votes on Supreme Court appointments

The High Court of Justice issues an interim order against Justice Minister Yariv Levin ordering him to explain why he should not bring to a vote the appointment of two new Supreme Court justices and a Supreme Court president in the Judicial Selection Committee.

Such orders in effect mean that the state, and in this case Levin, needs to convince the court why it should not accept the petitions requesting that the court indeed order the minister to allow a vote on the open positions on the court.

The High Court says however that it is issuing the interim order, which switches the burden of proof from the petitioner to the respondent, “for reasons of efficiency in dealing with the petition” alone, and without it expressing “any position on the essence of the issue.”

In February, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel filed a petition to the High Court asking it to order Levin to call votes on the appointments, arguing that his refusal to do so violated his constitutional obligation to fill the positions and was motivated by inappropriate political considerations designed to damage the independence of the judiciary and Israel’s system of checks and balances on government authority.

Levin has until June 23 to respond and a hearing has been set for the petition on July 2.

The justice minister, a strident critic of the Supreme Court, has refused to consider candidates for the two empty positions on the court, or appoint a president, since coalition backers hold a minority on the Judicial Selection Committee, and cannot positively control the outcome of such votes.

The Movement for Quality Government accuses Levin of politicizing Supreme Court appointments and says his refusal to convene votes to fill the appointments demonstrates “a lack of good faith” and is motivated by “immaterial considerations,” both of which are violations of administrative law.