Ze'ev Segal

Former justice minister Yossi Beilin was wrong to suggest that Moshe Katsav should be pardoned.

Never before has a president in the democratic world been found guilty of such deeds; the charges in the indictment have been proven beyond reasonable doubt, essentially beyond any form of doubt at all.

The prosecution undertook a difficult task in this unprecedented case: proving beyond a reasonable doubt that rape was committed. But indictments are one thing and verdicts are another.

Many experts say that in a polarized society, a referendum can often make the rifts even deeper.

If Hanegbi is found to have committed turpitude it's possible the High Court will intervene against his appointment.

A proposed bill attempts to circumvent a High Court ruling that forces the state to pay the financial burden to protect basic human rights.

The Neeman-Lieberman proposal lacks emphasis on the state's obligation to ensure full equality for all its citizens.

A battle will take place in Jerusalem Magistrate's Court over the issue of moral turpitude in Hanegbi's conviction, by a majority of the bench. He was convicted of perjury in his testimony and swearing falsely in his deposition to the chairman of the Central Election Committee.

Police investigation concludes 5 people gave bribes and 8 people accepted bribes in Holyland affair.

The decision by Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court ordering Channel 2 News to give the police the Galant document seems problematic.

Political appointments will disappear from Israeli life entirely only if democracy itself ceases to exist.

Turkel quickly discovered that a panel with a limited mandate and no authority to subpoena witnesses, which is at the mercy of officials' willingness to appear before it, cannot do its job properly.

In the field of planning and construction, enhancing transparency as a means of reducing corruption is a lesson whose implementation cannot be delayed or await criminal verdicts.

Justice should not only be done, it should be visible, something that has not occurred yet.

The cabinet is planning to kill the proposed code of ethics drafted by a committee headed by former Supreme Court President Shamgar.

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch's appointment of Yaakov Ganot as the director of his ministry demonstrates arrogance and lack of judgment.

In the country's history, it's hard to find such a great disaster that was not investigated by a commission of inquiry, or at least a lower-level investigative committee.

A commission of inquiry should look into the state of the country's firefighting force, not only into who is responsible for the outbreak of the Carmel fires.

In a society that is polarized in so many ways and lacking a constitution, the referendum is a destructive experiment.

The Israeli public has not yet grasped the idea that constitutional judicial review is an integral feature of advanced democracy.

Missteps by prosecutors must be subject to competent and reliable outside oversight.

It should be recalled that the decision to convict MK Tzachi Hanegbi of perjured testimony and filing a false affidavit was only supported by two of the three judges in his case rather than by unanimous decision.

The attorney general should reopen the investigation of Ehud Barak's wife over suspicions that she employed a foreign worker who lacked a work permit.

The Knesset must act to preserve its role in the central political decision making process, while preventing the government from taking control of the substance of legislation through "arrangements."

Two cases arousing unusual public interest by their very nature are expected to see court rulings soon.

High Court justices ought to realize that in a situation where the cabinet and Knesset do not immediately implement even unequivocal High Court rulings, there is little chance of them showing respect for judicial restraint.

Tzachi Hanegbi's contribution to public life, as emphasized by numerous public figures' appeals to the court on his behalf, is also a factor favoring a conclusion that his crime did not involve turpitude, but not the principal factor.

Decisions in the coming months over prosecuting Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and in the trial of former president Moshe Katsav will place the judiciary at the center of public discourse.

Canceling the decision to deport 400 children of foreign workers would reflect the gravity of the issue and lead to the development of an immigration policy for Israel, something that should have occurred long ago.

Changes need to be made to the process of appointing a new IDF chief of staff.

While the Turkel committee strives toward the truth, its true test would come in an interim report, which it would be appropriate to issue, and in its final report.

In light of the chief of staff's great power and influence in critical decision making, the creation of an independent search committee for this post should be considered.

Public transparency has long been known to be the surest recipe for combating governmental corruption.

The government can still decide to set up a state commission of inquiry into the Gaza flotilla and spare the country difficulties and embarrassment, if not much beyond that.

The advent of David Cameron's Conservative government has created the possibility for a change in the law within the U.K.

It is not hard to understand why the prosecution, which opposes any outside oversight of its actions, opposes implementation of defense based on justice, even when it comes to political appointments - which is not a serious charge and was brought before the courts for the first time.

In the forest that is the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court's ruling acquitting MK Tzachi Hanegbi on charges of making improper political appointments (whose summary runs for 70 pages ), the trees stand out in Israel's political jungle.

The Economic Arrangements Law is a euphemism that allows the Finance Ministry to concoct an arrangement of the economy and society as it sees fit.