Israel, the Supreme Court rejects the ban on judges from ruling on the “reasonableness” of government decisions
The Israeli Supreme Court has rejected a “key” provision of the controversial judicial reform launched by the government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. In recent months, tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated against the far-right executive and its reform of the judicial system. The measure quashed by the Court specifically envisaged taking away from the judiciary the right to rule on “reasonableness” of the decisions of the government or of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.
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In a note, the Supreme Court reports that eight out of 15 judges ruled against an amendment approved by Parliament in July that eliminated the so-called “reasonableness” clause, used by the Court to annul government decisions deemed unconstitutional. “This is due to the severe and unprecedented damage to the fundamental characteristics of the State of Israel as a democratic state,” the statement said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had argued that thebroad package of reforms of Justice, presented a year ago, was necessary to rebalance power between judges and politicians. But his detractors argue that the initiative paves the way for a authoritarian government and could be used by Netanyahu to cancel possible sentences against his loved one; an accusation that the prime minister has always denied.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin criticized the judges for “taking into their hands all the powers, which in a democratic regime are divided equally between the three branches” of the government.
Dozens of thousands of demonstrators yes they were gathered weekly against government reforms, and the protests only ended due to the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October. There “reasonableness clause” – the only measure adopted so far of the Netanyahu government's contested judicial reform – was also one of the most controversial stepsi as it attempted to curb the judiciary's control over the government.
When Netanyahu's allies voted to eliminate the “reasonableness clause” in July, opposition MPs stormed out of the chamber shouting “shame.” The clause has been cited in only a handful of judicial decisions, including a high-profile ruling last year that barred a Netanyahu ally from serving in the Cabinet due to a previous tax evasion conviction.
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