In Israel, majority coalition proposes basic law amendment to restrict judicial review of ministerial appointments

[The majority coalition] will propose a law that will bar any judicial review of ministerial appointments and pave the way for Shas chairman Arye Deri to return to the government as a minister. [In a decision on January 18, the High Court of Justice ruled that Deri was ineligible to hold public office and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needed to remove Deri from office.] The amendment to the Basic Law: The Government states: “There will not be judicial review by any level of court about any matter connected to, or resulting from, the appointing a minister and removing him from his position, save for the appointment meeting the conditions of eligibility set out in section 6a and 6c alone.” [...] The coalition already amended this law in December so that it does not apply to Deri, which allowed Netanyahu to appoint him in the first place. The proposed amendment will thus be the second amendment to a Basic Law intended to enable Deri to serve as a minister. The accompanying text that explains the law argues that the appointment and removal of ministers is at the “heart of democratic activity” and therefore should not be put up for judicial review. [...] The law proposes to block the High Court from examining the “reasonableness” or any other aspect of a minister’s appointment, save for the qualifications written explicitly in the law.
Read the full article here: The Jerusalem Post