Channels

Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg
Naor
Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg

Chief Justice Naor: Without restraint, the majority is liable to become tyranny

Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor speaks at a judges' swearing-in ceremony, saying that 'the dark days of the Nazi regime taught us that the rule of a majority that deprives individuals of their rights, a majority that oppresses the minority living within it, is not a democratic government.'

Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor warned on Wednesday against accepting the will of the majority without heeding to the principles of democracy.

 

 

"One of the lessons the Holocaust has taught us is that it is impossible to identify democracy with majority rule. Not every decision or law passed by a majority is necessarily a democratic decision or law, as history has shown that without restraint, the power of the majority is liable to become tyranny," she said at a judges' swearing-in ceremony at the President's Residence.

 

Naor (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg) (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
Naor (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

 

Naor added that "the dark days of the Nazi regime taught us that the rule of a majority that deprives individuals of their rights, a majority that oppresses the minority living within it, is not a democratic government. The road to the destruction of one third of our people was paved when Jews were denied civil rights and human rights."

 

The newly sown-in judges, Naor, Rivlin and Shaked (Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO)
The newly sown-in judges, Naor, Rivlin and Shaked (Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO)

 

Twenty-five judges were sworn in before President Reuven Rivlin during Wednesday's ceremony. Five judges were sworn in to the District Court, two to the Labor Court, 11 to the Magistrate's Court, four to the Traffic Court and three senior registrars were sworn in to the Magistrate's Court.

 

Addressing the newly sworn-in judges, Naor said, "With this, you have undertaken, inter alia, to protect against disproportionate infringement of human rights in Israel. Human rights are vital to our Jewish and democratic state. Human rights are the soul of democracy, as without them there is no democracy. This is the most important lesson that we must learn from the darkest chapter in our people's history, from the most terrible crime the world has ever known, the Holocaust. Human rights were developed following World War Two as a historical lesson from those atrocities and particularly the Holocaust."

 

President Rivlin also spoke at the swearing-in ceremony. "The court's standing depends on the public's trust. The public trusts the court when the court judges fairly. The public trusts that the court delivers justice without bias. We trust in its special ability to look beyond individual differences, between the big and small, the rich and poor, the foreigner and citizen, the recipients of public sympathy and those who are vilified and disparaged, to look beyond education and charisma and deliver a fair and impartial decision. That said, we trust you not to allow objectivity to lead to alienation. For it is in this way that you will allow even those who are found guilty to maintain their dignity, and to know that their voices was heard and that their humanity was recognized. "

 

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked was also at the ceremony. Speaking before the crowd and judges in attendance, she said, "I feel that such a swearing-in ceremony of judges, especially during the week marking Holocaust Remembrance Day and the murder of our six million Jewish brethren who were not allowed to establish a family, experience sovereignty, justice and a righteous trial—is even more moving and meaningful."

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.27.17, 12:40
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment