Wednesday morning, the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee was scheduled to vote on the Judicial Selection Committee amendments to the judicial reform measure.
Tuesday night, after receiving hundreds of objections to the measure, the chairman of the Law Committee, Simcha Rothman, chose to concentrate on grouped arguments and vote on them at the conclusion of the procedure.
Revisions to the law on judicial selection will be voted on by the Law Committee soon.
Members of the opposition denounced the procedure, refused to explain their objections, and exited the committee chamber. The chairman gave the opposition till Wednesday morning to submit justifications for their arguments.
“We provided all parties with the chance to concentrate on more substantive objections,” Rothman explained. Some sides elected to use the allotted time to debate the serious objections, while others did not.
What modifications does the proposed legislation make to the Judicial Selection Committee?
The measure, which was amended by Rothman on Sunday, intends to modify the composition and procedures of the Judicial Selection Committee.
The number of committee members would grow from nine to eleven. The two Bar Association representatives would be removed from the panel. Two justices, the justice minister, a cabinet minister, two Knesset members, the law committee chairman, and two more MKs would join the president of the High Court of Justice. Two of the legislators would represent the opposition, while the other two would represent the coalition.
Each of the political representative groupings would have one female member, and each member would represent a different political faction.
Unlike the previous committee, which required seven votes for approval, the new committee will just require a simple majority of six members.
The voting threshold for lower court nominations would increase to seven, and the justices would be temporarily replaced by magistrates and district court presidents.
