MKs debate ahead of final vote on bill to boost political control over judicial appointments

Knesset lawmakers begin to debate ahead of the final vote on a highly controversial bill that would greatly increase political control over the judicial appointments process in Israel.

The legislation would remove the two representatives of the Israel Bar Association currently on the nine-member Judicial Selection Committee, which makes all judicial appointments, and replace them with one lawyer to be directly chosen by the coalition and another chosen by the opposition.

“The fact is that some people in the opposition came to the committee and clearly said that this is a good bill, which is not the end of democracy,” Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice chairman Simcha Rothman tells the plenum. “People who were among the leaders of the protests against the previous version said that this bill is not the end of democracy.”

Rothman says that lawmakers “should be proud” of efforts made to ensure that the bill will be passed “with the broadest possible consensus.”

“This bill is not mine, it belongs to the Constitution Committee, it belongs to this house and it reflects broad consensus in this house,” he says.

Under the bill, appointments to lower courts would be made by a simple majority, but unlike the current system, would need at least one vote each from committee representatives of the coalition, opposition and the Supreme Court, granting all sides a veto.

Until now, neither the judiciary, the coalition, nor the opposition could veto a lower court appointment.

Appointments to the Supreme Court would need at least one vote from the coalition and opposition but not require any votes from the three Supreme Court justices on the Judicial Selection Committee, giving the political representatives on the panel a veto while virtually stripping the judiciary of any influence over appointments to the top court.

In the event that there are two empty slots on the Supreme Court and the coalition and opposition sides veto all of each other’s nominations for a year, the justice minister can activate a deadlock-breaking mechanism whereby both sides nominate three candidates and the other side must pick at least one.

This deadlock mechanism can only be used once in every four-year Knesset term.

The bill was introduced to the Knesset by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar as an ostensible compromise over previously proposed legislation that would have given the coalition almost complete control over all judicial appointments.

The law, if passed as expected, would only take effect at the beginning of the next Knesset term, meaning after the next general election, and it would almost certainly be challenged in the High Court of Justice.