MKs give initial nod to bill empowering Knesset to choose judicial ombudsman
Critics assert legislation would politicize justice system, slam Justice Minister Levin for failing to appoint successor to recently retired judge overseer Uri Shoham
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The Knesset on Wednesday night gave initial approval to a bill aimed at dramatically changing how the state ombudsman for judges is chosen.
The legislation, proposed by Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, would transfer authority to appoint the ombudsman to the Knesset, giving lawmakers a greater say in how the justice system is run.
The bill passed with 53 votes in favor and 48 against. It will now go to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which is chaired by Rothman, for debate and preparation for the final two readings necessary for it to pass into law.
The ombudsman provides oversight and investigates complaints against judges and has until now been chosen by the Judicial Appointments Committee — a body that includes representatives of the High Court, Knesset and Bar Association — following a joint nomination by the justice minister and the president of the High Court.
If passed, Rothman’s bill would mandate that the ombudsman be appointed by the president following a secret ballot in the Knesset, with representatives of the judicial system cut out of both the nomination and selection process. Instead, a group of 10 lawmakers or the justice minister would be empowered to nominate candidates.
According to its explanatory notes, because the term of the previous ombudsman ended without a replacement being chosen and because it is necessary “in order to fill the position of commissioner as soon as possible, it is proposed to amend the method of his appointment and to establish that the Knesset will elect the commissioner by secret ballot.”
Last month, then-outgoing State Ombudsman for Judges Uri Shoham was sharply critical of the failure to appoint a replacement for him, in a thinly veiled attack on Levin.
In a parting letter to his office, Shoham, a former Supreme Court justice, wrote that this will be the first time in over two decades since the department was established that there will be no serving state ombudsman for judges.
“I see there to be a severe injury to the rule of law and public trust in the judicial system by the fact that a new ombudsman for public complaints for judges has not been appointed,” he wrote.
He noted pointedly that it has been customary for “justice ministers and presidents of the Supreme Court” to appoint a retired Supreme Court justice ever since the Ombudsman’s Office was created.
Levin has refused to appoint a retired Supreme Court justice to replace Shoham, with his ally and fellow judicial overhaul architect Rothman describing such an appointment as a “conflict of interest.”
Levin has also declined to appoint a new Supreme Court president without total unanimity and the court has been without a permanent president for an unprecedented nine months.
Rothman’s ombudsman legislation was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation and advanced by the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee despite objections by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
Baharav-Miarav has argued that “such a fundamental change of the selection procedure for an important and sensitive position and the criteria for its selection, should be done from a general and in-depth perspective,” and “not from a narrow view of momentary interests, by way of a concrete dispute regarding the upcoming appointment.”
New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar also came out against the legislation earlier this month, decrying it as “politicization” of the justice system and asserting that it would give the Knesset leverage over judges.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.
