Israeli measures would weaken the court: UN rights chief
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Sulaiman
- . February 22, 2023
- . Update: February 22, 2023 10:44 pm
The proposed overhaul of Israel’s court system has raised concerns from the UN’s human rights chief, who fears that it will “dramatically impair” the judiciary’s ability to safeguard human rights and the rule of law.
The religious-nationalist administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing through measures in Israel’s parliament that they claim are necessary to tame activist judges who get involved in politics.
The measures, which have generated widespread demonstrations, could give the government more influence over selecting justices and restrict the Supreme Court’s capacity to overturn laws.
“Breaking from decades of established practise, such a law would drastically undermine the judiciary’s ability to vindicate individual rights and to uphold the rule of law as an effective institutional check on the executive and legislative power,” claims Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
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He added that the changes would strengthen political influence over the selection of judges. The only democracy in the Middle East, Israel, has been attacked more than any other country, according to Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who responded to Turk’s comments by declaring, “We will not accept moral preaching from those who ignore blatant human rights violations in Syria, Iran, the Palestinian Authority, and Gaza.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, asserted that Turk’s earlier statement revealed bias.
Austria’s Turk, who took over as High Commissioner in October, urged Israel earlier this month to uphold international human rights legislation after his office counted a record-breaking 151 Palestinians killed by security forces in 2017.
