In Israel, majority coalition prepares final readings of judicial selection reform before recess

Coalition party leaders said they intend to push through legislation on the functioning of the Judicial Selection Committee for the Supreme Court before the Knesset breaks for Passover at the beginning of next month, and then resume the advancement of the rest of the legislative package that makes up the government’s plans to radically overhaul the judiciary after the recess, urging the opposition to use the time for “negotiations.” In a statement late [19 March], after hours of convening to discuss ways to modify the drastic judicial overhaul legislation amid mass demonstrations and civil disobedience against the measures, the coalition leaders headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they will prepare the judicial appointments bill for its second and third plenum readings to become law, and will reconvene on the rest of the legislation to limit the powers of the High Court of Justice in mid-April. The coalition [is moving forward with some modifications that MK Simcha Rothman offered on the evening of 19 March], whereby not all appointments to the Supreme Court would be overtly political. Under his proposal, any new governing coalition would have complete control over the first two appointments to the Supreme Court that open up during its tenure, but require the support of at least one opposition MK and one judge on the committee in order to make further appointments to the court. [...] The original legislation that was approved in its first reading in the Knesset plenum, by contrast, gives the coalition total control over all judicial appointments without the need for support from either the opposition or the judiciary.
Read the full article here: The Times of Israel