Miriam Naor, frequent target of right-wing flak, warns new judges to be skeptical of criticism over their judicial activism.
High Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor took part in a swearing-in
ceremony for new judges at the President's residence in Jerusalem today
(Thursday).
During her speech, Naor addressed criticism by many on the Right that
the courts - and in particular the High Court - is far too active, and
highly politicized in favor of the Left. Naor dismissed such criticism
as not "reasonable (or) professional. Criticism must be done according
to the norms of democratic discourse, both in its style and in its
content."
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She further claimed that "Reasonable criticism must be based on
factual data and on familiarity with legal rulings relevant to
the target of criticism. It must take all relevant social values into
consideration.
"We must differentiate between professional and reasonable criticism,
and incitement and threats disguised as criticism - that we must not
accept. Baseless criticism, which is done with disparaging and
unrestrained language, is not reasonable criticism."
Finally, Naor said, "We are witnessing today, sadly, a phenomenon of
personal slander, 'shaming,' against judges. It does not come from a
disagreement with the reasoning behind rulings - and it is not even
backed up with facts - but rather is based on taking items out of
context. Sometimes the criticism is not based on what was said in a
ruling itself but rather on what was written about what was supposedly
said in the ruling, even if it does not reflect what was actually said."
Israel's court system has come under fire recently by politicians and
lay people who believe that the judges' ideologies are too far to the
left. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) has promised to rein in the judiciary's power and set up a task force to stop the Supreme Court from ordering Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria destroyed.
Other MKs have accused the Court of overstepping its bounds.
In return, Chief Justice Naor has previously accused Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) of 'intimidating' judges by threatening to stop promotions for those he feels are too lenient towards Arab rock throwers.
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Title :
Jerusalem Chief Justice denies High Court is politicized
Description : Miriam Naor, frequent target of right-wing flak, warns new judges to be skeptical of criticism over their judicial activism. High Cour...
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