DEMOCRACY IN ACTION

 

‘Reasonableness’ bill okayed for final Knesset votes next week, as opposition fumes

Constitution Committee chairman Rothman denounced by opposition MKs for ‘trampling’ protocol to expedite voting process, Knesset legal adviser sides with coalition

Amid tumultuous scenes, a Knesset committee on Wednesday night okayed a controversial bill drastically limiting use of the reasonableness judicial standard for final approval by the plenum, paving the way for the coalition to pass a part of its far-reaching judicial overhaul for the first time.

The second and third readings on the bill, an amendment to Basic Law: Judiciary, will begin on Sunday in the Knesset plenum, and the bill is expected to be approved and passed into law on Monday or Tuesday.

More at https://www.timesofisrael.com/committee-okays-reasonableness-bill-for-final-knesset-votes-as-opposition-fumes/

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MK Rothman: 'No justification for Judicial Selection Committee'

MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism), who heads the Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, on Thursday said that the Judicial Selection Committee is no longer justified.

He added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "said explicitly - the Judicial Selection Committee has ended its journey, because there is no justification for it. Even there, in the US, the judges do not appoint themselves - elected officials choose them. The compromise agreement...is less good than what they publicized a few months ago - they were better."

Regarding the Override Clause, he said that, "Between the first reading and the second and third readings, major changes were made."

When asked about Thomas Friedman's article in The New York Times, Rothman said, "Friedman has no place in the Knesset's statute. I really don't think there is any legitimacy for involvement in the legislative process, especially not regarding internal issues.”

He added, "I want them to explain to me how the reasonableness standard is connected to the Israel-US relationship. If they see shared values in democracy in it, then I am definitely in favor of our judicial system having the ability to intervene in the appointment of officials who are in the service of the government - just like in the American judicial system. I think that our shared values obligate us to have a situation similar to theirs."

"Unfortunately we have become used to interference on Judea and Samaria and international issues. I think that we can pay attention to Biden, but we can also say...that this is an issue that Israel needs to deal with on her own."

"We can discuss and argue - Israel and the US have a good relationship," he said. "Sometimes there was interference or a conflict of interests, of agreements within the regime in Israel.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/374435