Labor against proposal to limit court's authority

The Labor Party intends to fight the bill authored by Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann proposing an amendment that would limit the High Court of Justice's power to overturn Knesset legislation.

Labor Ministers Isaac Herzog and Shalom Simhon urgently contacted Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel on Saturday evening and asked him to remove the proposal from the government's agenda.

Sources familiar with the proceedings claim the proposal may be knocked off the agenda at the last minute, though at present time it is scheduled to be brought up for discussion and a subsequent vote. This despite the fact that it remains unclear if the proposal will garner the necessary support.

Herzog and Simhon directed Yehezkel to a clause stated in all the agreements signed between Kadima and the coalition parties, according to which any changes to a Basic Law or legislation of a Basic Law is conditioned on the proposal receiving the unanimous support of all coalition parties.

Friedmann spoke of such a bill over a year ago, and was met at the time with vehement opposition from Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish.

Friedmann's reforms have been the subject of harsh criticism from day one, prompting him to prepare a more moderate version of the bill for the government to review.

According to the new version – and for the first time since Israel's inception – the High Court of Justice's authority to quash any legislation detrimental to human rights would be limited.

Israel's Basic Laws were passed in 1992. Throughout the years, the High Court's ability to annul Knesset legislation has been the major bone of contention between the High Court, the Knesset and the academia.

The High Court has exercised this authority five times in the past, quashing sections in the Disengagement Act; revoking the license given Arutz 7 Radio; annulling legislation which said the State was not liable for Palestinians who suffered accidentally harm by military forces' operations; and amending a military judicial code order which allowed the IDF to hold a soldier in custody for up to four days without a hearing.

Friedmann hopes that defining the court's authorities would be able to put to rest years of wrangling feuds between the legislative and judicial authorities, believed to be one of the main causes for the public's lack of faith in both.

Aviad Glickman contributed to this report