Aide defends new Justice Minister's covert meeting with Ramon

Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann sees "nothing wrong" with his covert meeting last Thursday with former justice minister Haim Ramon, an aide of his said after Channel 2 reported the meeting.

"The minister met Ramon as part of the meetings he is holding with all the former justice ministers. Friedmann has already met Tzipi Livni and Yosef Lapid and intends to meet Yossi Beilin and Meir Sheetrit as well," Friedmann's aide said. "The meeting with Ramon was held in the afternoon. It was not secret nor nocturnal."

Friedmann's initiative to shorten the term of presidents of all the trial courts to a single seven-year term is evoking reactions among the judiciary. "The new minister is interested in making headlines, but I don't think he is defying the judiciary," a senior judge told Haaretz.

Today the presidents of all the trial courts except the Supreme Court are appointed to four-year terms, but since 1996, they may be reappointed repeatedly until they retire.

Friedmann's initiative will not affect the Supreme Court in the immediate future. Although he intends to apply the single seven-year term to the Supreme Court president as well, no Supreme Court president is expected to serve for more than six years, at least until 2023, if the seniority principle is maintained.

Incumbent Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch is due to retire in about five years. Beinisch herself asked a few months ago to change the custom of appointing court presidents to four-year terms repeatedly with no limitation.

Next month Beinisch will have to decide on the appointment of three Magistrate's Court presidents, who have been in office for 10 to 12 years: Edna Beckenstein in Tel Aviv, Amnon Cohen in Jerusalem and the president of the central district's Magistrate's Courts.

Friedmann discussed his initiative with the chairman of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, MK Menachem Ben-Sasson (Kadima), as shortening a court president's term requires legislation.

If the term of Magistrate's Court presidents is limited to seven years, each president would be able to choose, at the end of his term, whether to retire or to become a District Court judge, as magistrate's and district court's presidents are of equal rank.

At the end of his term, a District Court judge will probably opt to retire, unless he can be promoted to the Supreme Court, to avoid a repeated term as District Court judge and lose the president's pension privileges.

Friedmann is also planning to change the members of the committee that selects judges. In his essays in recent years, Friedmann said the Supreme Court has almost absolute control over the process of electing judges, as the three justices who are members of the committee act "en bloc."