The Knesset Constitution Committee will convene today (Sunday) for further discussion of the first part of the government's planned judicial reform ahead of the legislation's second and third readings.
The legislation in question would involve changing the composition of the committee which selects Supreme Court justices and establishing that Basic Laws are immune from judicial review.
The committee is meeting despite President Isaac Herzog's call last week for the current judicial reform legislation to be completely shelved. "The set of legislation currently being discussed in the committee needs to be entirely erased, and fast. It is wrong, it is destructive, it undermines the democratic foundations of the country. Therefore, it must be replaced with another, agreed-upon outline, and immediately," he said.
Herzog is expected to present his outline for a compromise on the judicial reforms this week
Kan 11 News reported that despite his disappointment with Herzog’s call to suspend the legislation, the chairman of the Knesset Constitution Committee, MK Simcha Rothman, has said that he would agree to hold dialogue on the outline Herzog will present.
However, the committee will begin to discuss changes in the first part of the reform, as Rothman and Justice Minister Yariv Levin said from the beginning that there could be changes for the bill's second and third readings. It is too early to say whether this will lead to a unilateral softening of the judicial reforms by the coalition in the absence of serious negotiations with the opposition.
One issue today's session is expected to focus on is just what Basic Laws would be immune from judicial review. The minimum proposed is that Basic Laws would be passed in three readings with a majority of 61 MKs, but there are proposals that would make the procedure lengthier and more difficult and which may be adopted by Rothman.
Justice Minister Levin supports passing Basic Laws in four readings, with the fourth reading being in the following Knesset. However, if this method is established, then certain parts of the judicial reforms will not be considered Basic Laws, making them more vulnerable to be struck down by the Supreme Court or being repealed by a more left-wing Knesset.
Another issue the committee will consider is differentiating between the composition of the committee for selecting Supreme Court justices and the composition for selecting judges for lower courts. Levin and Rothman may be more open to compromises on the issue of selecting justices for lower courts than they are on the selection of Supreme Court justices.