Israel's proposed legal reforms, compared to Poland and Hungary
Poland and Hungary are focused on who the judges are, while Israel is more focused on what they can do
In Israel and abroad, the comparisons are beginning – between proposed reforms of Israel's legal system and moves made in Poland and Hungary in recent years.
On Wednesday, Israel’s Justice Minister Yariv Levin announced a reform that would effectively allow parliament to annul a decision of the Supreme Court with a simple majority vote, boosting the power of elected officials over the courts.
Some opponents of Israel's new government have asked if this is Israel's future: The Polish Constitutional Court in Warsaw, whose judicial independence – critics say – has been neutered by Poland's ruling party, in what critics also say will happen to Israel’s courts.
"The reform I am bringing will strengthen the judicial system, and restore public trust in it. It will restore order,” said Levin when he proposed the reform. “It will allow legislators to legislate. For the government to govern, for advisers to advise and for judges to judge."
The moves in Poland and the proposed moves in Israel are different. In Israel, the focus is mostly on the so-called "override clause” – allowing the parliament to override decisions of the Supreme Court. Focused less on affecting who the justices are, and more on limiting what their rulings do in practice.
Poland’s approach has a different thrust: A full-on push to put in judges friendly to the ruling party and push out judges opposed to it. Especially with a 2017 Polish law that essentially gives the parliament full control over appointing judges. The Israeli government's reforms stop just short of that.
"The solutions that are being introduced absolutely serve the democratization of the state and are the opposite of an oligarchy,” Polish President Andrzej Duda has said.
In Hungary, too, a focus more on affecting who the judges are. In 2011, the Hungarian parliament lowered the retirement age, booting out judges and replacing them with friendlier appointments. It also gave more power over courts to the president of the "National Judicial Office" – an appointee of the parliament, but Hungary may change this as part of talks with the European Union.
"If a judge is uncertain about how long he can be a judge, or if his judicial status can be taken away years in advance in effect within a few days then that is a shock and shocking for the judiciary and judges,” urged Andras Baka, former president of the Hungarian Supreme Court.
Poland and Hungary are focused on who the judges are, while Israel is more focused on what they can do.