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Major battle over top Israeli court looms

May 7, 2015 15:32

By

Anshel Pfeffer,

Anshel Pfeffer

1 min read

The new Knesset will be a battle-ground over the future and independence of Israel's Supreme Court.

The appointment of Habayit Hayehudi MK Ayelet Shaked - an outspoken critic of the court's powers to scrutinise and disqualify legislation - as the new justice minister will add extra impetus to the campaign to limit its powers.

As part of the coalition negotiations between Likud and its coalition partners over the past six weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to get all the parties in the new government to commit to supporting two amendments.

One, the "overriding clause", will make it much more difficult for the Supreme Court to rule that a law passed by the Knesset is unconstitutional. First, it will require the majority of a minimum of eight Supreme Court justices for such a ruling. And second, once a law is disqualified, the Knesset will be able to vote on it again, making it immune to judicial intervention.