Friedmann, Beinish heading for another nominations' face off
Justice minister, Supreme Court president to convene Justice Nominations Committee meeting in attempt to agree on new Supreme Court judges. Meeting believed doomed due to two's rivalry
The Justice Nominations Committee stands to convene on Monday for another attempt at naming three new Supreme Court judges.
The Nominations Committee operates by proxy of Basic Law: The Judiciary. It is headed by the justice minister, who is joined by another minister chosen by the cabinet, two Knesset-appointed MKs, two members of the Israeli Bar Association, the president of the Supreme Court and two other Supreme Court judges; making up nine members altogether.
Once the committee names Supreme Court judges, the president must sanction their nomination.
Monday's meeting, as those before it, is expected to be a heated one, as Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann and Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish are expected to butt heads on the nominations, yet again.
The bones of contention are believed to be the proposed change in legislation, which would require the committee to have a seven-member majority for each nomination; and the Ministerial Committee on Legislation's call on the Nominations Committee, to consider candidates who did not serves as provisional Supreme Court judges in their deliberations.
Meeting doomed from the start
The new coalition negotiations and the political instability which may surround them, are also believed to take a toll on the meeting; especially since Minister Friedmann's continued tenure as justice minister under newly-elected Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni future government – should one be formed – may no longer be certain.
Apart from Minister Friedmann, the Justice Nominations Committee is made up of Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish, Environment Minister Gideon Ezra, the honorable Edmond Levy and Ayala Procaccia, Chairman of the Israeli Bar Association Attorney Yory Guy-Ron, Attorney Pinhas Marinsky and Knesset Memebrs Orit Noked (Labor-Meimad) and Gilad Erdan (Likud).
"The latest amendment to the nominations' law, which requires a seven-member majority, will bring the committee's work to a halt," Attorney Guy-Ron told Ynet. "A situation in which three committee members can torpedo a nomination make our work impossible."
The committee has to choose three named form a list of 19 prominent attorneys, who practice is the public, private and business sector.
Topping the list are Jerusalem District Court Judge Judith Zur and the honorable Deborah Berliner, Uzi Vogelman, Zvi Zilbertal and Yitzhak Amit. Monday's meeting, however, is expected to end with no concrete decisions.
