Knesset gives government control of judicial ombudsman in victory for legal overhaul

Israel’s governing coalition scored a victory in its judicial overhaul initiative when the Knesset approved legislation giving the government control over the ombudsman of judges on Tuesday morning.

The Ombudsman for Public Complaints against Judges, as it is formally called, investigates complaints about the conduct of judges and judges in the performance of their duties. The Ombudsman has the authority to recommend the filing of complaints against judges, and even recommend their removal in certain cases. Critics say the move violates judicial independence.

The legislation passed its final readings by a vote of 56-48.

Until now, the Ombudsman was appointed by the Judicial Selection Committee based on the proposal of the Minister of Justice and the President of the Supreme Court, who had the right to veto the selection of the Ombudsman.

According to the legislation, the Ombudsman will now be selected by a special committee of seven. consisting of the Ministers of Justice and Labor, a Knesset member appointed in a manner decided by the Knesset speaker, a retired judge elected by the Supreme Court justices, a retired judge elected by the presidents of the district courts, a retired dayan elected by the chief rabbis, and the national public defender.

Each committee member will be able to propose two candidates for Ombudsman, and the election will be held by a simple majority of four out of seven.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the architect of the government’s legal overhaul, said the previous situation “led to the appointment of Ombudsmans who were retired Supreme Court justices, friends of the sitting judges, with serious concerns about conflicts of interest.”

Following the vote, Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, who sponsored the legislation, tweeted, “I hope the ombudsman we appoint will do everything so that the judicial system will work better and win more trust from the public. [We are] fixing, responsibly and together, the judicial system.”

Opposition MK Benny Gantz, chairman of the National Unity party denounced the law, saying, “What we saw today is another step in the campaign to delegitimize the judicial system. There is a big gap between reforming the judicial system and a campaign of revenge that denies its legitimacy. A campaign of revenge is dangerous, which will turn the approach to the law in Israel not into a binding path but into a weak recommendation.”

The government’s controversial judicial overhaul initiative includes changes to the system for appointing and removing judges, giving the Knesset the ability to override certain High Court rulings, changing the way legal advisors are appointed to government ministries, and restricting the ability of judges to apply the legal principle of “reasonableness.”

Supporters of the legal overhaul say they wanted to end years of judicial overreach while opponents describe the proposals as anti-democratic.