Government moves to circumvent advice of AG, whose office warns of ‘abuse of power’ |
The government is planning to approve a cabinet resolution that would allow it to carry out executive actions and advance legislation without the approval of the Attorney General’s Office.
The move would upend a decades-long practice by which the attorney general reviews and approves key government policies and legislation to ensure they comply with the law, before they are advanced.
The Attorney General’s Office said the resolution would enable the government to act unlawfully by avoiding all legal advice, and pave the way for the abuse of governmental power. It said the resolution itself was therefore unlawful and should not be approved.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who initiated the resolution, originally sought to bring it to a vote in Sunday’s cabinet meeting, but his office later said it would be brought to a vote next week.
Opposition leaders denounced the proposal, with The Democrats party head Yair Golan describing the resolution as an attempt by the government “to dismantle the gatekeepers [of the rule of law] in order to stay in power.”
Levin’s effort to pass the cabinet resolution follows a High Court of Justice ruling annulling the government’s dismissal of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and appears to be an effort to partially circumvent that ruling.
At the same time, the government, on Levin’s initiative, is advancing legislation in the Knesset that would strip the attorney general role of most........