Protests in Israel are ‘democracy at work’, says former SC judge

He was invited by the Israel Democracy Institute to speak at a conference — ‘No Other Democracy in the World – An Emergency Conference on Threats to Judicial Independence’.

“I saw a march to the President’s residence of about 20,000 people. It was peaceful with no violence at all. At the same time, I was told there was a crowd of over two lakh people marching in Tel Aviv,” Justice Rao said.

With surging protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary, the reform has been “delayed for now”. Among the proposed reforms is a controversial move to include a Bill to change the composition of the nine-member committee that selects judges to the Supreme Court. This panel currently has the minister of justice and another minister, the Supreme Court president and two judges, two Knesset members, and two representatives of the Bar. Under the new proposal, government-nominated members would be in a 7-4 majority in an expanded committee.

On the proposed reforms in Israel, Justice Rao said that it is a very different democratic context from India. “Israel has an unwritten Constitution and a unicameral legislative body, the Knesset, but a deep history of separation of powers. Their Supreme Court is the arbiter of rights not written in a Constitution like ours is,” he said.

“There are voices in Israel that look to the Indian model rather than to the West,” he added.

The Supreme Court has often relied on the jurisprudence from the Israeli Supreme Court. Former Israeli Chief Justice Aharon Barak’s views on proportionality test applied to balance competing rights.

On the fraught relationship between the executive and the judiciary in India, Justice Rao said that tension between the executive and the judiciary is welcome. “I have a different view on this issue. The judiciary is a counter-majoritarian force and bonhomie between the court and the government is not a good thing for a citizen,” he said.