Will the court system continue to operate normally even during the tight closure that will take effect tonight? According to the emerging trend, the activity will be conducted in a very limited format – after both judges and lawyers expressed concern about their health.
Earlier yesterday, the Minister of Justice, Blue and White Chairman Bnei Gantz, said that the activities of the courts would not be harmed during the closure. Gantz also responded to a Ynet article on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request (which was not accepted) to postpone the date of filing an indictment against him. , And wrote: “Netanyahu, do not worry. The courts will remain open – on me. “A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Netanyahu’s presence.
A protest ensued. After the Bar Association appealed to Supreme Court President Esther Hayut to reduce the hearings and hold only urgent hearings, the chairman of the Bar Association, Adv. Orit Korin, turned yesterday and expressed support for moving to a format of only urgent hearings.
The judges then joined the call to move to an emergency format. The chairman of the judges’ representative, Tel Aviv District Court Judge Yaron Levy, wrote to the court’s director, Yigal Marzel, that there is a “deep sense of concern for the health of the judges and employees.”
Levy added that “following the reports of the high and increasing rate of infection, even among judges and system staff, and in order to protect the health of judges, staff and the courts in general, the National Judiciary believes there is full justification to move to emergency hearings only during quarantine, as Who was in the first closure. ”
He said, “Considering the expected beneficial effect of the rapid vaccination rate on the population, the delegation believes that the benefits of switching to an emergency format outweigh the disadvantages.”
Will the courts move to a recess procedure following the closure? Esther Hayut
(Photo: Oren Ben Hakon)
“The courts will remain open.” Ganz
(Photo: Hadar Yoavian)
According to the lawyers, “the virus does not distinguish between a gathering of more than five people in a closed space that is a courtroom, and a gathering of more than five people in a space that is not a courtroom … Some judges keep a reasonable number of litigants inside the courtroom, with dozens outside the courtroom. “People who are forced to gather in the hallway. In other cases, there is no strictness even inside the courtroom, and sometimes there are extreme cases of judges insisting on refusing requests to cancel hearings that by definition should have more than 30 people.”
“Therefore, we request that you act to declare a recess procedure, as was the case in the first closure,” they read. “This means that the detention hearings, due to their urgency, will continue, and all other proceedings will be postponed to a period where they can be conducted in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s guidelines. Children need to be at home and cannot focus on work and progress in the usual way. “
At the end of the letter, the lawyers threatened: “As long as a recess procedure is not declared, and the courts continue to set dates for non-detention hearings and it is not essential to conduct them during the closure, we intend to strike and not attend non-detention hearings – to protect our lives and The lives of our family members. “
Will the hearing be postponed? Netanyahu in court in May
(Photo: Contact)
“Not to sacrifice the lawyers on the altar of Netanyahu’s trial.” Avi Chimi
(Photo: Moti Kimhi)
The chairman of the Bar Association, lawyer Orit Korin, also expressed support for moving to a format of only urgent court hearings. “We are committed to the health of the lawyers,” she said. “There is an extreme increase in morbidity, so there is no escape from an emergency. They will lead to a return to routine soon. “
On Tuesday, the chairman of the Bar Association, Avi Chimi, also spoke on the subject, saying that “the health of lawyers is not a no-brainer, and if a full closure is decided, it must also include the courts, which are visited daily by hundreds and thousands of lawyers and civilians. . We are witnessing a blatantly illogical situation in which the economy is completely shut down, but continue to abandon and endanger the health of lawyers and the general public, and sacrifice them on the altar of the Prime Minister’s trial. The Bar Association opposes this negligent move and is working to change the government’s decision. ”
Yesterday, the bureau sent a letter on its behalf to the acting Minister of Justice, Bnei Gantz, in which it demanded that the proceedings be exhausted before a petition on the subject. In the letter, the Bar Association demands to move to an emergency procedure in the courts. According to the bureau, “the only consideration in the position and the demand to keep the activities of the court system as a series is part of a political struggle and a desire to ensure that the prime minister’s trial is timely.”