Reform of justice in Israel: the derogation clause passes a first vote

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has begun mediation between the opposition and the government.

The Israeli Parliament adopted Tuesday in first reading the derogation clause, one of the most disputed provisions of the reform of the judicial system which divides the country.

The text was adopted shortly before 3 h by 61 votes to 52. A second and then third reading vote is still needed before it becomes law.

The bill adopted at first reading tightens the conditions allowing the Supreme Court to invalidate an ordinary law and allows Parliament to protect a law against any annulment by a legislative process not requiring a simple majority (61 deputies out of 120): c& #x27;is the derogation clause, which makes it possible to avoid the control of the Supreme Court.

A little earlier, the Parliament had adopted in first reading another draft of law significantly reducing the possibility that a sitting prime minister could be declared unfit to hold office.

Since the presentation at the beginning of January of the bill, carried by the cabinet formed at the end of December by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most right-wing governments in the history of Israel, demonstrations have followed one another every week in across the country to denounce what critics of the reform describe as anti-democratic drift.

Generally speaking, the reform bill, as it stands, would considerably limit the prerogatives of the Supreme Court and would effectively give the majority political coalition the power to appoint judges.

The government says the reform is necessary to restore a balanced balance of power between elected officials and an independent, but not omnipotent, judiciary, in the words of Mr. Netanyahu, who accuses the Supreme Court of be politicized.

According to its detractors, the project on the contrary carries the risk of a drift towards a model of Hungarian democracy.

One ​​of the protests in February in Jerusalem against justice reform

On Thursday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called for a halt to the current legislative process, calling the current draft a threat to the foundations of democracy.

Mr. Herzog has begun mediation between the opposition and the government with a view to reaching a more consensual text likely to be adopted by Parliament and to allay the concerns expressed by opponents of the reform. /p>

On Monday, a compromise proposal was presented to the Law Commission by a former justice minister, a university director and a law professor.

The President of this Commission, Simcha Rothman, believed that it could be a basis for negotiations.