In a decision given today (Thursday) at the High Court, a conditional order was issued regarding the petition of the Movement for the Quality of Government against Minister of Justice Yariv Levin. The order instructs the minister to justify his decision not to convene the committee for the selection of judges. In other words, the burden of proof shifts to the defendant.
At the end of the only hearing that will be held, on the decision of the Minister of Justice, not to convene the committee in its current composition, the court will decide what to do, if it is convinced that the minister's reasons are justified, it will allow the order, and if it is not convinced, the court will impose an interim order stating that the committee must convene immediately.
Minister Levin, as mentioned, did not convene the committee for the selection of judges because it does not have adequate representation for elected officials and according to him "the matter is in complex and complicated constitutional negotiations with the aim of forging a broad consensus in a public, social and political dispute". The legislative procedure that led Levin to change the composition of the committee was stopped for a moment according to the approval of the law in the second and third reading following the wave of protests.
Im Tirtzu movement stated that "the Supreme Court's unimaginable hypocrisy continues. In 2005, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni avoided convening the committee for many months, and not a single judge dared to issue a conditional sentence against her. Now when it comes to a minister representing The National camp, the judges of the High Court are interfering the work of the executive authority and trample on any trace of democracy. The people will not be silent in the face of his trampling. It is impossible for the majority of the people not to have adequate representation in court. The dictatorship of the High Court must end, we will not agree to become a banana republic"
On the other hand, the petitioner of the Movement for the Quality of Government said that "just before the holidays, when we will all appear before a higher court, the court reminds us all, and especially Minister Levin, that the law applies to all of us. Even to those who try with all their might to remove it from us and destroy the rule of law." .