Will split of AG duties be deferred?
Yaakov Ne'eman's first appearance before Knesset's Constitution Committee has Justice Ministry officials wondering if he plans to shelve controversial notion to fork Attorney General Office in two
Is Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman going to shelve the plan to spilt the attorney general position in two? Ne'eman made his first appearance before the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Monday, and announced he would be seeking to change the span of the attorney general's authorities "through mutual understandings" with the legal system.
The notion of splitting the position in two was first brought up by former Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, who called to divide the AG's duties between two offices: The Attorney General's Office and the Government's Legal Counsel; giving the former reign over all aspects of criminal law, and leaving all other legislative matters to the latter.
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is said to be categorically against the idea.
Legal maze ahead
The statement surprised many Justice Ministry officials, with some seeing it as Ne'eman preparing an elegant repeal of the controversial plan, but his reasoning may simply be pragmatic: Mazuz's tenure in office will end in six months and Ne'eman knows that with the Knesset's nearing summer hiatus, and the complex legislative maze the move faces, he will probably not be able to realize it on time.Top legal sources said that since the attorney general's authorities and duties are anchored by multiple laws, government decisions and High Court rulings, Ne'eman knows that in order to usher such a change successfully he would need to form a special committee, headed by a renowned legalist – and that takes time.
His best – and possibly only – avenue, added the sources, is to try and have the government declare the position split. The justice minister now has to decide whether to bide his time and forego the reform, or push for a cabinet decision.
