For their part, all members of the opposition left the Chamber while the nominal vote was being held.
The reasonableness bill, backed by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, would deprive the Supreme Court of the power to declare government decisions unreasonable.
The doctrine of reasonableness is not exclusive to the Israeli judiciary. The principle is used in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.
Courts in those countries routinely use the rule to determine the constitutionality or legality of certain legislation, and it allows judges to ensure that decisions made by public officials are “reasonable.”
The rule was used this year when Prime Minister Netanyahu removed his key ally Aryeh Deri from all ministerial posts, following an Israeli High Court ruling finding it unreasonable to appoint him to government posts because of his criminal convictions since he had told courts last year that he would retire from public life.
The reasonableness bill is just one part of a broader package of reforms to Israel’s judicial system.
Other parts of the package are intended to give the far-right coalition government more control over the appointment of judges, and would remove independent legal advisers from government ministries.
Netanyahu and his allies call the measures “reforms” and say they are necessary to rebalance powers between courts, legislators and governments.
However, those who oppose the reform plan describe it as a “coup” and say it threatens to turn Israel into a dictatorship, by removing the most important controls on government actions and concentrating power in the hands of the Executive.
The Israel Bar Association is preparing a legal challenge against the bill, the group of lawyers said on Sunday, a day before the vote.
What next after the approval of the bill in Israel?
The passage of the controversial “reasonableness” bill has already sparked legal challenges and could trigger a constitutional crisis in Israel.
Immediately after the bill’s passage on Monday, the Movement for Quality Government, an Israeli non-governmental organization, filed a petition with the Supreme Court.
The petition asks the Court to declare the law of reasonableness illegal as it changes the basic structure of Israel’s democracy, and requests that it block the application of the law until the Court rules on it.
Before the law was passed, the Israel Bar Association was already preparing a legal challenge to the law, the group of lawyers said on Sunday. Its executive, the Lawyers Council, had approved the decision to ask the Supreme Court to strike down the reasonableness law, if it were approved on Monday, the College said.
The Bar Association also warned that it will be closed “as an act of protest against the undemocratic legislative process,” it said in a statement. That means that the Bar Association will not provide professional services to its members, and not that the lawyers will go on strike.
If the Supreme Court rules that the law of reasonableness itself is unreasonable, invalidating the law that removes powers from the Court itself, it could unleash a constitutional crisis that pits the Government against the Court.
