12 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Israeli Supreme Court, Esther Hayut, has accused this Thursday the Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, of instigating a “rampant attack on the justice system” within the framework of the judicial reform proposed by the Government led by the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It amounts to an unbridled attack on the justice system, as if it were an enemy that must be rushed to defeat,” he ruled, adding that what is intended is “to deal a fatal blow to the independence and autonomy of the judicial system.” as well as silence the Court, according to the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’.
In his speech during an act of the Israeli Public Law Association in Haifa, Hayut has warned that the initiative will deprive the court of the option to annul laws that violate Human Rights, such as the right to human dignity.
In response, the Israeli head of Justice has harshly charged against the president of the Supreme Court, alleging that the highest judicial body is “an additional party that is trying to place itself above the Knesset (Parliament) and above the people.”
“We do not listen to neutrality, we do not listen to a balanced judicial position. His union with Yair Lapid (former prime minister, now in opposition) shows that the judiciary has lost its way,” according to the newspaper ‘Haaretz’.
The changes proposed by the head of the justice portfolio, if approved by the Knesset, would give the government control over the judicial selection committee and limit the authority of legal advisers.
Levin, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, believes that judicial activism has destroyed trust in the justice system, which is why governments cannot govern effectively.
This proposal has provoked criticism from the opposition, which has spoken out against and condemned the measure, considering it a “political coup”. Lapid previously assured that this proposal “is not a legal reform”, but “a threatening letter” to destroy the judicial system.
