From High Court said to rule 8-7 in favor of striking down judicial overhaul law
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The High Court of Justice is reportedly set to strike down the controversial reasonableness limitation law passed by the government earlier this year as part of its judicial overhaul program.
In what would be a momentous and highly contentious decision, Channel 12 news reports that the unprecedented bench of 15 justices split down the line, with the eight liberals voting in favor of annulling the law and the seven conservatives voting against.
Such a decision would be incredibly controversial since the law was passed as an amendment to one of Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws which the court has never before struck down, and which the government and legal conservatives have strenuously argued are not subject to judicial review.
The reasonableness law bans all courts, including the High Court, from deliberating on and ruling against government and ministerial decisions on the basis of the judicial standard of reasonableness, which the top court has used to reverse government and ministerial decisions in certain circumstances.
Labor MK Gilad Kariv, a fervent opponent of the reasonableness law and the judicial overhaul more broadly, condemns the leak of the ruling, calling it “a disgrace” that does “mortal harm to the Supreme Court and to Israeli democracy.”
He argues that swift condemnation of the apparent decision by the Movement for Governability and Democracy, a strongly conservative think tank founded by judicial overhaul architect MK Simcha Rothman, indicates the source of the leak.
“What they have done disrupts the operations of the Supreme Court in an unprecedented way and is clear evidence of their willingness to harm its status and its judges,” says Kariv.
The Judicial Authority spokesperson’s department issues a statement in response to the report saying the writing of the ruling has not yet been completed.
“We view unauthorized leaks with great severity and will not comment on it. The ruling will be published after [the process of] writing it has been completed,” the statement says.
