Hayut attempting to stop Knesset legislation

Supreme Court President Esther Hayut is attempting to interfere in the Knesset’s legislative process, Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman charged at Wednesday’s committee meeting. The accusation followed reports that Hayut told President Isaac Herzog that talk on the proposed judicial reforms had to be accompanied by a pause in the committee’s sessions.

“President Hayut is invited to come and express her opinion. The attempt to prevent legislation in the Knesset is very serious,” said Rothman. “Her demand to stop the discussions in the Knesset has no place in a democratic country,” he said, calling on her to retract.

Rothman said the committee was the place to discuss issues with the judicial reforms proposed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the beginning of January. Any attempt by Hayut to stop proceedings, Rothman said, was a violation of the separation of powers.

National Unity Party MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen agreed with Rothman that negotiation and compromise were critical but disagreed with the criticism of Hayut. She said it was necessary to clarify all stances on the issues.

“The whole purpose of the draconian legislation is to create a situation where a prime minister who has indictments and is unwilling to accept the norm wants to prepare the judges for himself, as well as a convicted minister who is determined to come back with legislation that will crush the ministers’ ability to discuss appointments,” said Farkash-Hacohen, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trials and Shas chairman Arye Deri, who was attempting to return to his ministerial posts after a High Court ruling ordering his removal.

Rabbi Ido Rechnitz of the Mishpetei Eretz Institute proposed a compromise structure for a different provision of the draft amendment to The Basic Law: The Judiciary, to replace the representatives of the Bar Association in the Judicial Selection Committee with two district judges chosen by the Knesset speaker.

“This will make it possible to appoint judges that the coalition wants, and on the other hand, it gives a majority to the judges in the committee so that five out of nine will be judges,” Rechnitz said.