Justice Minister Levin: High Court hearing lacks authority, is ‘mortal blow to democracy’

Justice Minister Yariv Levin issues a statement claiming today’s crucial High Court of Justice hearing on potentially voiding the government’s resonableness law is taking place “with the complete lack of authority” and constitutes “a mortal blow to democracy and the status of the Knesset.”

The divisive law cancels the court’s ability to block government and ministerial actions and appointments using the legal concept of reasonableness. Significantly, the law is an amendment to one of Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws and proponents of the legislation argue that the court has no right of judicial review over such laws.

The petitioners, an array of government watchdog and civil society organizations, argue that the Basic Law amendment severely harms Israel’s democracy.

“Presidents and justices of the Supreme Court over the generations all agreed — the people is the sovereign, and its will is represented in Basic Laws legislated by the Knesset,” Levin says in a statement.

“The court, whose justices elect themselves behind closed doors and without a protocol, is placing itself above the government, above the Knesset, above the people and above the law,” Levin claims, even though the Judicial Selection Committee features veto power for politicians on the appointment of Supreme Court judges.

Levin argues that rather than the government’s judicial overhaul, it is today’s hearing that “shakes the foundations of democracy in Israel.”

“Until today, despite highly problematic judicial activism, there was at least one agreed basis — the court respected Basic Laws,” he adds. “This is the basis that preserved democracy in Israel. The responsibility for preserving this joint basis lies with the court.”