Levin postpones hearing on appointing Supreme Court chief, says candidate had conflict of interest as judge

Justice Minister Yariv Levin tells the High Court of Justice that he is postponing a hearing of the Judicial Selection Committee that should have been held tomorrow to appoint a new Supreme Court president, to examine claims that Acting Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, who is the primary candidate for the position of president, had a conflict of interest as a judge over civil lawsuits in which he was listed as a party.

The Supreme Court, sitting in its capacity as the High Court of Justice, ordered Levin in December to call a vote in the Judicial Selection Committee and appoint a new president of the court by tomorrow, January 16.

Levin has resisted filling the position for 15 months since he opposes the appointment of Amit, a liberal, as permanent president, but did not have the votes in the committee to get a conservative candidate appointed.

Writing to the court on behalf of Levin, attorney Tzion Amir says that the Judicial Selection Committee has to conduct “a thorough clarification” of the claims against Amit. He says Levin requested on Tuesday that the Justice Ministry’s legal adviser examine the claims, and that the legal adviser told Levin today that she needs more time to look into the matter and present her findings to the Judicial Selection Committee.

Amir says that as a result, “it will not be possible to bring the issue of the election of a Supreme Court president to the Judicial Selection Committee before the necessary facts have been established.”

Although Levin had not actually scheduled a meeting for the committee tomorrow, Amir writes that there is “no choice but to postpone the date for convening the committee.”

Earlier this week, the Ynet news website published a report where it said that Amit had been party to civil lawsuits regarding a property he owned in Tel Aviv under his former surname Goldfriend, and he had heard cases presented in court by a lawyer’s office that was representing him in one of the civil cases.

The report also alleged that Amit was directly involved in a selection committee that considered the advancement of a judge who presided over a case regarding the Tel Aviv apartment, on Eilat Street.

The Judicial Authority defended Amit, saying that due to power of attorney arrangements, he was represented in the cases by others and had no knowledge of the proceedings, and had made no attempt to conceal his identity.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel which successfully petitioned the High Court to force Levin to call a vote on electing a new president slams Levin for what it says is his ongoing efforts to “avoid complying with the High Court order” by “inventing investigation authorities he does not have,” and calls on the justice minister to convene the committee immediately.