The Chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, Knesset Member (MK) Simcha Rotman published an updated version of the reforms planned in Israel’s judicial system, which is proposed on his behalf and includes a reference to the change in the composition of the Committee for the Selection of Judges.
In Rotman's original proposal, it was indeed decided to increase the representation of Knesset members on the committee for voting in judges from two to three, but by automatically determining that the coalition representatives would be the chairman of the Constitution Committee, the chairman of the Knesset Committee and the representative of the opposition would be the chairman of the State Audit Committee.
#Government legal advisers and #Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman clashed at the committee’s Sunday session over changes to the judicial system that the advisers said would threaten the balance of power.https://t.co/syBZ2yKzqp
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) February 5, 2023
After hearing comments in his committee's deliberations from Knesset members and other participants, the proposal of the legal advisor to the Knesset was accepted, requesting that Knesset representatives be elected more independently and less dictated by the sitting coalition.
Accordingly, it is proposed in the updated version that the representative of the opposition in the committee will be chosen directly by the opposition, and the Speaker of the Knesset will choose the third member of the Knesset, at his discretion, alongside the automatic membership of the Chairman of the Constitution Committee on behalf of the coalition.
To counter misunderstanding and misinformation, MK Simcha Rothman (@rothmar), Chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, spoke at the Jerusalem Center on February 2, 2023, to clarify the Israeli Government’s proposed judicial reform. https://t.co/Kge9qQVH2h
— Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) February 5, 2023
One of the reasons for the change lay in the fact that until now there was a mandatory representation of at least one member of the Knesset, and in Rotman's original proposal this was not always possible, because there was no flexibility in determining the representatives of the Knesset in the committee for selecting justices.
Rotman’s changes also include a decision that at least one of each party that sends a representative to the committee for the selection of judges will be a woman, either a judge, a member of the Knesset, a minister, or a representative from the Bar Association; so that out of nine members, at least four will be of female representation.
'Supreme Rulers?' Committee chairman bashes high court, assures foreign media that judicial reform will expand Israeli democracy https://t.co/GnOi8XUuOp via @all_israel_news
— Pam Gelfstein (@gelfstein) February 6, 2023
According to the updated proposal, the composition of the new committee will look like the following: the Minister of Justice and two other ministers, three members of the Knesset, the President of the Supreme Court, and two retired judges appointed by the Minister of Justice, and with the approval of the President of the Supreme Court. In addition, the comments of the members of the Knesset were answered in the committee, for determining the hearing of the committee for candidates for the office of Supreme Court judges as a mandatory authority and not simply as a privilege.
