Last update - 00:00 15/05/2007
AG may block Olmert's efforts to give Haim Ramon cabinet post
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz may stop Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from appointing former justice minister MK Haim Ramon to a cabinet post, though Ramon's conviction for indecent behavior did not include a charge of moral turpitude.
On Monday, Mazuz announced he would not appeal a Magistrate's Court indecent behavior conviction without moral turpitude of former justice minister Haim Ramon; however a senior official at the Justice Ministry called Ramon's return to the cabinet "not an automatic matter."
The announcement of Mazuz's decision not to appeal Ramon's conviction came one day after Ramon's own announcement that he would not appeal the verdict.
Mazuz's aide sent letters to the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel and women's organizations that demanded that Mazuz appeal the verdict. "The prosecution's stance on this matter is that the court must determine that moral turpitude accompanied the commission of the crime, and the court did not accept that such was the case."
After examining the facts, and after Ramon did not appeal his conviction, we came to the conclusion that, in light of all the circumstances there is no need for the state to submit an appeal."
However, Mazuz may instruct Olmert that although the Basic Law on the Cabinet states only that a minister is not to be appointed if convicted of a crime carrying moral turpitude, it would be extremely unreasonable to appoint a minister who has been convicted of indecent behavior.
Sources in the Justice Ministry say they expect public pressure to prevent Olmert from giving Ramon another cabinet post. "The verdict created a significant impact on the behavior of the public in this area," a senior Justice Ministry official told Haaretz.
Mazuz may decide not to defend Olmert or Ramon if petitions are filed in the High Court of Justice against a Ramon cabinet appointment. Olmert and Ramon could hire legal representation, however in light of Mazuz's message supporting the petitioners, there is a good chance the petition would be granted.