Israel passes contentious law amid protests: What is this ‘attempt to curb judiciary’s powers’?

What is the new measure that has been passed?

Under the new law, the Supreme Court cannot overrule the national government using the legal standard of “reasonableness” — a concept that judges previously used to strike down decisions made by lawmakers and ministers.

A recent report by The New York Times described reasonableness as follows: It is “a legal standard used by many judicial systems, including Australia, Britain and Canada. A decision is deemed unreasonable if a court rules that it was made without considering all relevant factors or without giving relevant weight to each factor, or by giving irrelevant factors too much weight.”

Netanyahu’s government has argued that the change would help democracy foster in the country as it gives more power to the elected legislators in comparison to unelected judges. Opponents, however, see it as a move that would help the ultra-right government enact orthodox and illiberal policies without any intervention of the judiciary.

What are the other proposed reforms?

As of now, the ruling coalition has decided to only enact the legislation that concerns the legal concept of reasonableness — the other reforms remain on the back burner due to the large-scale protests that took place in March.

The government first officially announced its plans to make changes in the judicial system back in January. Apart from reasonableness, there are three other major reforms that have been proposed. First, the government wants to enable the 120-member Parliament, or Knesset, to override any Supreme Court judgement by a simple majority of 61 votes unless those rulings are unanimous.

Second, a law that would give a greater role to lawmakers in the appointment of Supreme Court judges. As of now, a committee comprising professionals, justices and lawmakers elevate judges to the top court. The new change would provide “lawmakers a majority in the committee, with most coming from the right-wing and religiously conservative ruling coalition”, as per a report by the Associated Press.

And third, a new measure that would allow ministers to choose their own legal advisors instead of using independent professionals.

Why is Netanyahu’s government changing Israel’s judicial system?

Conservatives and the right-wing in Israel have for a long time seen the judiciary as a left-leaning impediment to its legislative agenda. For instance, the ruling ultra-right coalition seeks more power in a bid to overturn court judgements that expanded social reforms to support the LGBTQ community and barred previous governments from constructing Israeli outposts on private Palestinian land. Essentially, they want to rein in the Israeli judiciary, known for its fierce independence, through a series of laws.

How have opponents of the legislation reacted?

As Israel’s Opposition lawmakers don’t have enough numbers in the Parliament to stop the reforms, non-parliamentary organisations have taken to the streets. Since December last year, when Netanyahu’s coalition came to power, large demonstrations have been taking place in different cities of the country.

On Modany, refresh demonstrations broke out moments after the new legislature was enacted. The NYT reported that protesters blocked a main thoroughfare in Jerusalem, where Israel’s Parliament is located, as protest leaders called on opponents of the legislation to come out into the streets wherever they were.

Military reservists, technology leaders, academicians, senior doctors and trade union leaders, who had joined forces earlier this year to compel Netanyahu to suspend the reforms for a few months, are again threatening to go on strike.

Meanwhile, the Movement for Quality Government, a leading Israeli rights watchdog, has approached the Supreme Court to strike down the new legislature, “ setting the stage for a possible constitutional crisis,” NYT said in a report.

(With inputs from The New York Times)