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Last update - 05:21 21/03/2008 Gov't committee fails to agree on new Supreme Court candidates By Tomer Zarchin, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Friedmann, committee  A meeting of the committee for selecting Supreme Court justices scheduled for Sunday was canceled Thursday night after a failure to agree on three candidates. Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, who heads the committee, asked that the meeting be canceled due to serious disagreements among its members. Attorney Yuri Guy-Ron, head of the Israel Bar Association and a member of the committee, believes that the decision to cancel the meeting is wrong and that a decision must be made based on majority vote. Advertisement Committee sources said the reason for the disagreement is the refusal of the judges' representatives on the committee - Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch and justices Eliezer Rivlin and Ayala Procaccia - to consider candidates who have not held temporary appointments on the court. Attorney Pinhas Marinsky, a committee member, said yesterday that "we need to appoint to the Supreme Court candidates enjoying as broad support as possible." He said that some of the committee members were not willing to consider candidates "who did not serve on the Supreme Court. This is improper, unegalitarian, and does not allow for a fair selection process." Another member of the committee said that "the judges torpedoed the decision, manipulating the situation on every candidate, and causing disagreement. It was an ugly process and they did not want to weigh this fairly. It seems like a battle of power between the judges and Friedmann." Nonetheless, it was possible to conclude last night that there were some broad agreements in the committee: No members of the academia will be selected in this round, nor anyone who had private law practices. It is also likely that that, although not certain, Judge Uzi Vogelman, currently on temporary appointment at the Supreme Court, will receive a permanent position. Most of the committee members agree that justices will be selected from judges who have not served on temporary assignments at the Supreme Court. The only opponents of this are the representatives of judges on the committee. The reported consensus on Vogelman's candidacy is based on the support of most of the committee members. Vogelman is backed by current Supreme Court President Beinisch, and is also acceptable to her rival, Justice Minister Friedmann. The justice minister believes that the committee should also consider judges that did not serve on temporary assignment at the court, in order to provide a varied pool of candidates. Friedmann's view is supported by IBA head Guy-Ron, and Pinhas Marinsky, the two representing active lawyers on the committee. It is also supported by the three politicians on the committee besides Friedmann - Environment Minister Gideon Ezra, MK Orit Noked (Labor) and Gilad Erdan (Likud). Beinisch and the representatives of the judges on the committee, Rivlin and Procaccia, believe that to prepare justices it is necessary to have temporary appointments to the court, allowing the candidates to be evaluated in "real conditions." Among the candidates who have served temporarily on the court, Friedmann supports Jerusalem District Court Judge Yosef Alon and Tel Aviv District Court Judge Dvora Berliner. The Supreme Court justices would prefer to see Jerusalem District Court judges Yehonatan Adiel and David Cheshin. Among the judges who have not served on temporary assignment on the Supreme Court, Beinisch supports Jerusalem District Court Judge Zvi Zylbertal, while Friedmann likes Jerusalem District Court Judge Yehudit Tsur. Related articles: AG opposes Friedmann's plan to curtail Supreme Court's power Ex-chief justice slams Friedmann's plan to curtail court's power Ex-justices lash out at reforms proposed by Justice Minister Beinisch: Friedmann 'sowing strife' in legal system Bookmark to del.icio.us   Good Avraham Hunting An ex-security guard solves a problem that has baffled mathematicians for decades. A better place Some 2,400 African refugees have entered Israel via Egypt since January.

Today Online Yesha rabbi: Jewish law forbids renting houses to Arabs Responses: 244 Palestinian Americans warned of security profiling at B-G Airport Responses: 203 Bin Laden tape: Iron and fire needed to liberate Palestine Responses: 109 Egypt agrees to take over as Gaza power supplier Responses: 118 Abe Foxman: Anti-Semitism is not just a Jewish problem Responses: 57 Rosner's Domain There's no need for American pressure on Israel Obama and the psychological complexities of American Jewry (WTR) Poll: Mideast summit in Moscow, a good idea? Was Shakespeare a Jewish Woman? (WTR) Rosner's Mailbox: Women in the pulpit? been there, done that More Headlines 03:00 Israel, Germany plan int'l summit to stop Iran nuke program 05:14 13-year-old boy hurt in terror attack near Hebron 23:55 PM says worried Russian arms will reach Hezbollah 22:19 Bin Laden tape: Iron and fire needed to liberate Palestine 02:20 PA to launch welfare network in hopes of countering Hamas 04:19 Why did charity group pay NIS 1 million to ex-lottery chair? 04:01 TAU student develops software that ranks facial attractiveness 21:27 Jewish group seeks to purge YouTube of anti-Semitic videos 00:52 In surprise move, Fischer to increase foreign currency reserves 21:27 Israeli ex-security guard solves 38-year-old math problem 05:21 Gov't committee fails to agree on new Supreme Court candidates Previous Editions Select Day 20 mar 19 mar 18 mar 17 mar 16 mar 14 mar 13 mar 12 mar 11 mar 10 mar 09 mar 07 mar

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