Judicial law battle has its day in court
ilemma number one: His fractious coalition will be hard-pressed to pass additional judicial reforms in the face of mass domestic protests and a tidal wave of international coercion.
Dilemma number two: We will know very soon if the controversial initial steps the government has already enacted will pass muster with the very High Court whose wings the coalition is trying to clip.
This Thursday, a three-member High Court panel was set to hear appeals to an amendment the coalition tacked onto a Basic Law in March barring the attorney general from declaring a prime minister unfit for office. The amendment states that only the Knesset has the authority to suspend a prime minister, and even then, only if he is physically incapacitated.
In a separate but related challenge, on September 7 the High Court will hear a petition to force Justice Minister Yariv Levin to convene the judicial selection panel that will appoint two new High Court justices to replace two members reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 in October. Levin is wielding his authority to avoid convening the selection panel until he can force a change in its composition to boost the chances of appointing conservative judges.
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