In Israel, committee approves basic law amendment bill limiting judicial review

Amid tumultuous scenes, a Knesset committee on [19 July] okayed a controversial bill drastically limiting use of the reasonableness judicial standard for final approval by the plenum, paving the way for the coalition to pass a part of its far-reaching judicial overhaul for the first time. The second and third readings on the bill, an amendment to Basic Law: Judiciary,  will begin on Sunday in the Knesset plenum, and the bill is expected to be approved and passed into law [...]. The approval came at the end of several marathon sessions by the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which had to slog through 20,000 objections seemingly meant to gum up the legislation and stop the government from racing ahead with the bill, after compromise talks collapsed last month. [...] The bill would ban the Supreme Court and lower courts from using the reasonableness standard to review decisions made by the government and cabinet ministers. Proponents say the bar on use of the doctrine is needed to halt judicial interference in government decisions, arguing that it amounts to unelected judges substituting the judgment of elected officials for their own. Opponents argue, however, that it will weaken the court’s ability to review decisions that harm civil rights, and hinder its ability to protect senior civil servants who hold sensitive positions such as the attorney general, police commissioner and others, from dismissal on improper grounds.
Read the full article here: Times of Israel