Last update - 00:00 21/01/2007
Head of Interdisciplinary Center: AG cannot restrict prime ministerial powers
By Haaretz Service
Professor Amnon Rubinstein, the head of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, said during the opening session of the center's annual conference Sunday that an attorney-general may not impose restrictions on the conduct of a serving prime minister.
"I know of no such precedent in any democratic country," Rubinstein said.
Rubinstein was speaking days after Eyal Inon, an assistant to Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz, wrote that limitations would be imposed on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert if a criminal investigation against him over his conduct during the privatization of Bank Leumi warrants such action.
Inon was responding to a request by attorney Yossi Fuchs, an independent activist, that the prime minister step down while the investigations against him are being conducted.
Rubinstein, a professor of law and a former education minister, said that the sovereignty of the Knesset and the rule of law are pillars of democracy, and based on the principal of the rule of law, a person may do anything that is not forbidden by law.
Rubinstein also came out to the defense of politicians in Israel, and said that there is no democracy without politicians, and warned against the delegitimization of the Knesset.
"This is a great danger to the resilience of Israel," he said.
Rubinstein also stressed that there is a need to uphold the presumption of innocence.
"Every person is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law," he said, adding that the issue of public and ethical behavior is a matter for the Knesset, the public, and the press.
Rubinstein also suggested the institution of "a special prosecutor," similar to the American practice when a public official is facing a criminal investigation. Rubinstein siad that the establishment of such an institution would solve the problems that arise when the attorney-general is subordinate to elected officials.