Last update - 00:00 08/03/2007
Justice Ministry bill would put 7 year limit on court presidents' terms
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
The Justice Ministry publicized a bill on Wednesday that would limit the terms of court presidents and deputy presidents to seven years.
The bill, developed under the guidance of Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, applies to the Supreme Court as well as lower courts. It also states that no judge slated to retire in less than three years can be appointed court president.
"The bill is part of the initiative to strengthen the judicial system and set rules that assure presidents' independence," said Friedmann.
There is presently no term limit for the president or deputy president of the Supreme Court or the National Labor Court. There is a four-year term limit in place for lower courts, but it can be extended without restriction. Indeed, many district and magistrate court presidents and deputy presidents serve long terms, sometimes more than 12 years - a practice Friedmann is seeking to end.
"Even when terms are set, the practice is to implement repeated appointments, such that in effect, a judge who is appointed president or deputy president often serves in that position until his retirement or until his appointment to a higher court," a Justice Ministry official said.
The bill does not abolish the seniority method used in the Supreme Court, whereby the most senior justice is appointed president. But although the bill aims to change the practice of Supreme Court presidents retaining their position until they retire, it explicitly states that the first Supreme Court president to be affected will be current president Dorit Beinisch's successor. Beinisch, who has said she supports the bill, would not be affected by the law in any case, because she is due to retire in less than five years.
Beinisch recently told Philadelphia Bar Association representatives that she does not see attacks on the courts as a genuine threat to their independence. She said Israel has a strong democracy and the public understands that impairing the judiciary's independence would be a blow to democracy.
The section of the bill that states that judges cannot be appointed court president or deputy president if they are due to retire in less than three years means that the most senior Supreme Court justices after Beinisch - Eliezer Rivlin (who would serve only three months if appointed president) and Asher Grunis (who would serve two years and 10 months) - would not be allowed to become president. The next in line is Justice Miriam Naor. Assuming the seniority method is maintained, she can be expected to serve as Supreme Court president for five and a half years after Beinisch retires.
According to the bill, judges who serve as court president would resume being regular judges in the same court once their terms are over, unless they are appointed to a higher court. However, sitting court presidents are expected to retire when their terms end, rather than take on a lower rank.