Rothman publishes bill to bar courts invalidating ‘unreasonable’ government decisions

MK Simcha Rothman, one of the architects of the government’s judicial overhaul program, publishes a draft bill that would prevent the courts from using the judicial test of reasonableness to invalidate government and ministerial decisions and political appointments.

According to the bill, the courts, including the High Court of Justice, would no longer be able to even hold hearings over the reasonableness of a decision, or invalidate such decisions made by the cabinet, government ministers, or other elected officials merely based on the “reasonableness of their decisions.”

Rothman and Justice Minister Yariv Levin have argued that use of the reasonableness test, which allows the courts to judge whether the considerations behind a government or ministerial decision were assigned the proper weight, gives the High Court far too wide a scope to intervene in decisions which should be in the purview of the government and elected officials.

Opponents counter that critical concerns, such as making schools in the Gaza border region rocket-proof and religious rights, were upheld by the court’s use of the reasonableness doctrine and that it is, therefore, a critical tool for the judiciary.

Rothman’s bill would also mean the High Court could not strike down ministerial appointments, like when it ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove Shas leader Aryeh Deri from his posts as interior and health minister earlier this year. The court ruled that the appointment was “unreasonable in the extreme” due to Deri’s previous criminal convictions, although also used the doctrine of estoppel to invalidate his appointment.