Last update - 00:00 28/03/2007
Senior jurist slams Friedmann over judicial appointments
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
The judicial system has reacted angrily to a bill initiated by Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann to change the composition of the Judicial Appointments Committee. One senior figure called the bill "an attack on the justice system, out of a desire to destroy as much as possible."
According to the proposal, whose details were revealed in Haaretz three weeks ago, two of the three High Court justices on the committee will be replaced by retired District Court judges. The bill, which would be an amendment to the Basic Law on the Judiciary, also proposes that when the committee convenes to select High Court justices, it will take on two additional members to its usual nine: the chair of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee or an MK, and a university professor.
The idea to place retired District Court judges on the committee instead of sitting High Court justices was explained by saying that "sitting District Court judges might themselves be candidates for the High Court." The bill would enact in law the custom by which the two MKs on the committee represent the government coalition and the opposition. A maximum term on the committee is also proposed: four years for retired judges, academicians and representatives of the Israel Bar Association.
According to the senior judicial figure, "The composition of the committee should not be touched." With regard to the District Court judges, he said, "Retired District Court judges are usually bitter for not having reached the High Court, and they are cut off from the daily work of the system." He also said: "It is absurd for District Court judges who were not appointed to the High Court to appoint justices," and that "bringing in a politically appointed professor is like appointing a politician."
The fact that the recently released law memorandum grounds in legislation the possibility that the High Court of Justice can annul laws has implications on the appointment of justices to the High Court," Friedmann said Tuesday. The bill keeps the balance by which politicians are a minority on the committee and sets in law that one MK member will be from the opposition. However, it expands and enriches the variety of opinions and outlooks of those selecting High Court justices." Friedmann said there was nothing to the idea that District Court judges could not select justices; he said this is the way it is done in England, and that to suggest that District Court judges could not carry out this task was insulting to them.
The critic also had harsh words for the Justice Ministry's legislation department for approving the minister's memorandum suggesting the bill and for passing it on as a government-sponsored bill. "The Justice Ministry never worked like that. It would do extensive research, not formulate bills on command. It can be assumed that the ministry gritted its teeth when it approved the bill."
A source in the Justice Ministry responded: "We do not determine the laws. Law memorandums are something the minister generates; this is not to say that the ministry supports the proposed law. The minister may issue a law memorandum tomorrow that says everyone must go around with a green hat."
A number of judges expressed anger at the bill and said Tuesday they hoped the Knesset would reject it although it gives them one more MK on the committee