Israel Kasnett
JNS, July 17, 2023
“… the Supreme Court has invented new legal grounds to review the reasonableness of government actions and even to disqualify government appointments.”
Israel’s Supreme Court is either under attack or undergoing necessary reform, depending on who you ask.
While there is talk of shelving the larger judicial reform package originally proposed by the government, a bill seeking to annul the court’s “reasonableness” criteria for overturning legislation passed its first Knesset reading last week and is expected to pass its second reading this week.
It will likely pass its third reading next week, after which it will become law and the Supreme Court will no longer be able to judge Knesset legislation, appointments, or other government decisions on subjective grounds of “reasonableness.”
The reasonableness doctrine holds a distinctive place within Israel’s legal framework. Specifically, it is a component of administrative law which governs the circumstances under which courts can intervene in administrative or bureaucratic decision-making processes. The doctrine was introduced by Justice Aharon Barak during his initial years as a Supreme Court justice, nearly 45 years ago.
Avi Bell, professor of law at Bar Ilan University and the University of San Diego, told JNS the court’s current ability to strike down Knesset laws “is not anchored in law, but was fabricated by the court, under rules that the court has never fully articulated and that have clearly changed from time to time.”
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