Q&A: What Happens When the Court Ignores Basic Laws
What Happens When the Court Ignores Basic Laws
Answer
Interesting. Just a note. Both the Olmert and Barak cases involved conducting negotiations, not signing a contract or taking some practical step. If a contract had been signed, it would have had to be approved by the Knesset or wait for the permanent government that would come afterward. Closing Orient House is a practical step (though in my view it really isn’t such a dramatic step, and it’s hard to understand why a caretaker government can’t do it). Be that as it may, all these matters are in the hands of the Knesset, and if it is unhappy with the inventions of the legal advisers, it should do itself the honor of legislating a law that states explicitly what a caretaker government is and is not allowed to do. The Knesset does not do this, and prefers to whine about legal advisers and courts taking the law into their own hands.
The same applies to the Afula case yesterday, which in my view is truly outrageous to the point of horror. The judge hung his ruling on some government decision and on a law. Whether he is right or not (as far as I understand, absolutely not), the Knesset can do itself the honor of legislating whatever it wants and not let Dina Zilber run the country. But again, it prefers to whine about Dina Zilber instead of pulling the chestnuts out of the fire itself.
Discussion on Answer
Because wherever the legal system takes the law into its own hands, apparently legislation is needed. That’s the way to deal with it in an orderly fashion, even if in your view that is indeed what the law in its current wording says.
Why is there any need to legislate? “With regard to the question that arose concerning the government’s authority to act from the time of the elections until the establishment of a new government, the legislature sought to emphasize beyond any doubt that the government continues to function normally and continuously. According to the law, there is no difference at all between a regular government and a caretaker government.” And later in the article: “The conclusions of the Branzon Committee, like the provisions of Basic Law: The Government, are completely clear: there is no difference whatsoever between a caretaker government and a regular government.”