In Israel, parliament approves basic law amendment curtailing judicial review

The Knesset passed a key piece of the coalition’s judicial reform legislation into law on [24 July]. All 64 members of the coalition, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was released from hospital [on 24 July] following a procedure to implant a cardiac pacemaker, voted in favor. Opposition lawmakers boycotted the third and final vote. The amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary limits the Supreme Court’s use of the so-called reasonableness standard. It bars “reasonableness” as a legal justification for judges to reverse decisions made by the Cabinet, ministers and “other elected officials as set by law.” Ahead of the vote, Justice Minister Yariv Levin questioned whether “what is reasonable in the eyes of the judges is the logical thing to do? Who decided that their personal positions are better than those of the ministers? “Where is the school to learn about reasonableness? Is there such a place? Of course not, because ‘reasonableness’ is a worldview. It’s not a legal matter,” added Levin. Opposition and Yesh Atid Party leader Yair Lapid earlier [...] denounced the legislation as a “hostile takeover of the Israeli majority by an extremist minority,” adding, “You know that what’s happening here is a disaster that can be prevented. A tragedy that we must stop.”
Read the full article here: Jewish News Syndicate