Supreme Court Justice Miriam Naor, participated Tuesday in the swearing-in of new judges at the President’s house, and spoke about the appointment of Supreme Court justices and the judicial selection process.
''In recent months, there have been published media reports about the list of candidates to the Supreme Court," said Naor. “Various publications have referred to agreements or disagreements between members of the Judicial Selection Committee about the qualifications of various candidates.”
She added, "It is not an easy task to stay out of the arena of media debates, especially when the information is incorrect or inaccurate. The judges on the committee believe that discussion of the pros and cons of the various candidates should take place between the members of the Judicial Selection Committee only, and not in the media.”
Naor responded to the demand of the MKs on the committee that they be able to meet with the judiciary candidates. "The selection of candidates to the Supreme Court and any other court should be free of any political consideration and rely on the special skills of the candidates, their good character and their temperaments.”
The Supreme Court has been enveloped in controversy in recent years for its alleged left-wing bias, its allegedly excessive interference in virtually all areas of governance, and for its de facto control over the process of appointing new judges. Most recently, it was the Supreme Court which ordered the destruction of Amona, even prior to a final conclusion about who legally owns the land.
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) has been seeking to reform the process for appointing new Supreme Court judges and has been bitterly opposed by the current Supreme Court President.
Arutz Sheva spoke to Avraham Diskin about the issue. Professor Diskin is an Israeli political scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Professor at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.
“I’m not aware of the most recent comments of the Chief Justice concerning political nomination of Justices. However, in all countries known to me, both democracies and non-democracies, Supreme Court judges are always nominated by politicians. Israel is the only exception where in practice, the Supreme Court Judges are usually nominated by their peers,” Diskin said.