Beinisch said one way she intends to cut the red tape at the court is by sponsoring legislation to assign certain appeals to a single judge.
Part of the reason cases drag on so long, she said, has to do with the current requirement for a panel of three judges to hear petitions. Past attempts to address the issue have been ruined by the revolving door at the Justice Ministry, she said.
“It is impossible to promote legislation without a justice minister. A number of ministers have taken on the legislative mantle, but it has been shelved every time.
Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni has returned to head the ministry, pending the outcome of the "unwanted kiss" trial against suspended justice minister Chaim Ramon. In making the appointment, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says that if Ramon is acquitted, he will return to the post. Livni, who is an attorney, replaced Meir Sheetrit, whose nine-month term as Acting Justice Minister just ended.
Acting court administrator Judge Moshe Gal said last week that he formulated the plan together with Beinisch. “The current situation in the Supreme Court is unacceptable,” he asserted. “Supreme Court justices need to write rulings only on subjects that interest them. We must find a way that would allow them to deal only with matters of principle.”
The United States Supreme Court limits its cases to those which are related to the question of interpretation of the law. Criminal cases, for example, cannot be brought before the Supreme Court, which is not a court of appeals.
Such is not the case in Israel at this point, where every case can be appealed at the Supreme Court level.
“I have no intention of modeling our Supreme Court after the U.S. Supreme Court, which hears 80 cases a year” she told participants at the Israel Bar Association conference in Eilat. But, she added, “I must lower expectations. I wouldn’t even want the Supreme Court to hear just 80 cases a year, but 2,000 to 3,000 would be sufficient.
Beinisch said she plans to cut the caseload at the court, but was not specific about the time frame, the number of cases to be cut, or whether they would be restricted by type. The Supreme Court currently hears some 6,000 cases per year, out of more than 12,000 legal proceedings which are filed in Israel annually.
Part of the reason cases drag on so long, she said, has to do with the current requirement for a panel of three judges to hear petitions. Past attempts to address the issue have been ruined by the revolving door at the Justice Ministry, she said.
“It is impossible to promote legislation without a justice minister. A number of ministers have taken on the legislative mantle, but it has been shelved every time.
Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni has returned to head the ministry, pending the outcome of the "unwanted kiss" trial against suspended justice minister Chaim Ramon. In making the appointment, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says that if Ramon is acquitted, he will return to the post. Livni, who is an attorney, replaced Meir Sheetrit, whose nine-month term as Acting Justice Minister just ended.
Acting court administrator Judge Moshe Gal said last week that he formulated the plan together with Beinisch. “The current situation in the Supreme Court is unacceptable,” he asserted. “Supreme Court justices need to write rulings only on subjects that interest them. We must find a way that would allow them to deal only with matters of principle.”
The United States Supreme Court limits its cases to those which are related to the question of interpretation of the law. Criminal cases, for example, cannot be brought before the Supreme Court, which is not a court of appeals.
Such is not the case in Israel at this point, where every case can be appealed at the Supreme Court level.
“I have no intention of modeling our Supreme Court after the U.S. Supreme Court, which hears 80 cases a year” she told participants at the Israel Bar Association conference in Eilat. But, she added, “I must lower expectations. I wouldn’t even want the Supreme Court to hear just 80 cases a year, but 2,000 to 3,000 would be sufficient.
Beinisch said she plans to cut the caseload at the court, but was not specific about the time frame, the number of cases to be cut, or whether they would be restricted by type. The Supreme Court currently hears some 6,000 cases per year, out of more than 12,000 legal proceedings which are filed in Israel annually.