Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak delivered a speech last week that left many listeners wondering if he had \"lost it,\" as a HaTzofeh headline phrased it. Speaking Wednesday night at Bar Ilan University, Barak strongly attacked those who had criticized him earlier that evening. Some in the audience said he \"lashed out wildly,\" pointedly depriving university professors of their titles and calling them \"Mr.\" He said that their criticism of him was a \"fatal mistake,\" and termed the idea of establishing a Constitutional Court separate from the Supreme Court a \"cockroach that must be killed while it is small.\"
HaTzofeh reported that Barak was enraged at claims that the Supreme Court is not representative of Israeli citizens, and that his response could barely be understood: \"The Supreme Court does not have to represent the population, but rather to reflect it,\" he said, and continued, \"The Supreme Court must intellectually reflect the pluralism of the society, but not represent it, because if there is to be representation, the representing judges will be in the minority and their opinion will not be accepted.\"
A common target for criticism of Barak in recent years has been his statement that everything is justiciable. He defended it as follows: \"I distinguished between normative justiciability and moral justiciability.\" In response to an earlier speaker\'s claim that \"the Justices are concentrated on themselves,\" Barak said, \"What is talking about? Where is he coming from? Did he ever check? Does he know? We are a laboratory of comparative law.\" In response to claims that he ignored \"social rights,\" the Chief Justice said, \"I am a responsible judge, I am a principled judge, I do not judge based on results. I am more of a socialist than many of those who write articles.\"
Many of the legal experts reacted to the speech with shock, saying that the Chief Justice had \"lost all control\" and similar remarks.
HaTzofeh reported that Barak was enraged at claims that the Supreme Court is not representative of Israeli citizens, and that his response could barely be understood: \"The Supreme Court does not have to represent the population, but rather to reflect it,\" he said, and continued, \"The Supreme Court must intellectually reflect the pluralism of the society, but not represent it, because if there is to be representation, the representing judges will be in the minority and their opinion will not be accepted.\"
A common target for criticism of Barak in recent years has been his statement that everything is justiciable. He defended it as follows: \"I distinguished between normative justiciability and moral justiciability.\" In response to an earlier speaker\'s claim that \"the Justices are concentrated on themselves,\" Barak said, \"What is talking about? Where is he coming from? Did he ever check? Does he know? We are a laboratory of comparative law.\" In response to claims that he ignored \"social rights,\" the Chief Justice said, \"I am a responsible judge, I am a principled judge, I do not judge based on results. I am more of a socialist than many of those who write articles.\"
Many of the legal experts reacted to the speech with shock, saying that the Chief Justice had \"lost all control\" and similar remarks.