Today (Thursday) there will be a discussion on the incapacity law in an expanded composition of 11 judges of the Supreme Court.
But what is the law of Christianity? When was it used? What does the government want to change in it? And why does the High Court intervene?
The curfew law refers to a situation where a government official is unable to fulfill his duties and therefore goes to curfew (he is prevented from coming), curfew can be temporary or permanent.
What are the conditions under which the prime minister is prevented from fulfilling his role?
The Basic Law of the Government before the amendment of March 2023 stated as follows: "If the Prime Minister is temporarily prevented from fulfilling his duties, his place will be filled by the Acting Prime Minister."
The law did not specify what impeachment is, who defines it, and what the reasons for which the Prime Minister is prevented from fulfilling his duties.
The question arose for the first time in the case of Ariel Sharon in 2006, Sharon suffered a stroke and entered a state of coma. The Attorney General consulted with the medical staff and together they decided that the Prime Minister was unable to fulfill his duties and therefore the powers were transferred to the Acting Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert.
From this event, it appears that a health condition that prevents the Prime Minister from serving is a classic condition of constipation.
Declaration of imprisonment due to criminal cases
Later, a petition was submitted to the court to declare Ehud Olmert a prisoner who cannot fulfill his duties because he is accused in a criminal case, the petition was rejected, but the court noted that: "If it turns out later that the conduct of the prime minister does not allow the conduct of the criminal investigations properly, it may be A place for the Attorney General's announcement regarding the temporary imprisonment of the Prime Minister" In doing so, the court prepared the way for further announcements of imprisonments against a Prime Minister who is accused of crimes.
In 2021, the court rejected the petition that sought to declare Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu incapacitation and at the same time stated that whoever is authorized to declare such a declaration is "exclusively entrusted to the Attorney General". Although the law does not authorize the legal advisor to declare this.
The amendment stated that only a Prime Minister who is not functioning physically or mentally will be considered disabled
In an amendment to the law passed last March, it was enacted that the reason for impeachment is "merely physical or mental inability to fulfill one's role as Prime Minister". In this way, the law prevented the court and the attorney general from declaring the impeachment of a prime minister against whom a criminal trial is pending.
The amendment also stated that it will not be the Attorney General who will announce the closure, but the Prime Minister himself, with the approval of two-thirds of the members of the Knesset Committee.
The criticism: the amendment is intended to protect Netanyahu
The criticism leveled at the law is that it is a personal law designed to thwart the possibility that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go to prison because of the criminal cases against him. The law was passed by the Knesset three days before the deadline for submission of responses to the petition that demanded the legal advisor to declare the Prime Minister to Incapacitation, and thus the law blocked the announcement.
Therefore, a petition was filed against the amendment to the Basic Law. Last August, three judges discussed the petition, but the likelihood that such a panel would have declared for the first time in history the nullity of a basic law is very low.
The court decided to expand the composition and set an extended hearing of 11 judges who will not reject the law but will ask the government to justify why it will not postpone the introduction of the law until the next Knesset, thus proving that the law was not enacted only for Netanyahu but was enacted for prime ministers in general.
Tomorrow's hearing, the High Court of Justice will intervene in the amendment made by the government to the basic law and seek to postpone the law, until Netanyahu can't enjoy the protection it gives him.