High Court postpones hearing on Judicial Selection Committee due to war

The High Court of Justice decides to postpone a critical hearing scheduled for Sunday on petitions against Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s refusal to convene the Judicial Selection Committee.

High Court Justice Yael Wilner notes that legal representatives for Levin and the government have been called up for IDF reserve duty due to the current war with Gaza, and decides that the hearing will be held on November 12 instead.

An extension is also granted for submissions to the court by all sides and they must now be filed by November 5.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioners against Levin, opposed the postponement, saying Levin’s refusal to convene the committee has already created a situation in which the country currently has an acting Supreme Court president, and noted that there are dozens of open positions on court benches around the country.

Levin has refused to convene the committee owing to his stated desire to change its composition through legislation in order to grant the government greater control over the panel which appoints judges to all Israel’s courts.

That legislation was part of the government’s judicial overhaul agenda, but that program was suspended when Benny Gantz’s National Unity party joined the coalition to form an emergency wartime government.