Knesset committee to push ahead with legislating judicial overhaul next week

The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee will hold back-to-back hearings next week to prepare the first part of the government’s radical judicial overhaul for its final Knesset readings, in a sign that the coalition is charging full-steam ahead with its controversial legal agenda.

Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman has scheduled hearings every day next week except Thursday to prepare the legislation, which would give the government full control over judicial appointments and ban the High Court of Justice from reviewing Basic Laws.

Votes to approve the legislation in committee for its second and third readings could be scheduled whenever Rothman decides, and then be brought for those final readings to pass the bill into law within in a matter of days.

These moves come as President Isaac Herzog is in the final stages of forming a compromise proposal for judicial reform after consultations with academics and civil society organizations on both sides of the ideological spectrum.