Tzipi Livni
Tzipi LivniYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni vowed on Sunday night to “bury” a bill, approved earlier by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, that would enable the Knesset to override a High Court decision to strike down a law it had previously legislated.

“As the head of the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, I will bury the High Court bypass law which is meant to destroy the Supreme Court and democracy,” Livni wrote on Facebook, adding, “I filed an appeal and the law will not be promoted.”

The bill, which was submitted by MK Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home), would add a clause to the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom, allowing the re-legislation of laws annulled by the High Court, with a 61-seat majority. The clause would be added to the Basic Law as a temporary order for a period of four years.

The bill was submitted in the wake of the High Court decision to strike down the Infiltrators' Law, which the Knesset passed in order to combat the flood of illegal immigrants that has plagued working-class neighborhoods.

MK Shaked noted that in writing the minority opinion in the decision, Supreme Court President Asher Grunis implored his fellow judges not to create a crisis with the government and Knesset "by taking the reins of legislation into their hands."

Ministers who are opposed to a certain bill often halt its promotion by filing an appeal against it. Livni has used this method before to shelve a bill that would require any withdrawals from land within the city limits of Jerusalem to be approved by 80 MKs.

Similarly, Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Perry (Yesh Atid) appealed a law that would enforce life sentences for terrorist prisoners, essentially burying it before it can be brought to the Cabinet for approval.