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| By Ynetnews February 6, 2007 |
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Professor Daniel Friedman, known for his criticism of the judicial system, Attorney General Menahem Mazuz and State Prosecutor Eran Shendar, is likely to be Israel's next justice minister.
Prof. Friedman, 71, Israel Prize laureate and former dean at Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Law, was chosen by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to replace former minister Haim Ramon after his conviction for indecent behavior for forcibly kissing a female soldier.
The cabinet is due to vote on the appointment on Tuesday night, after which it will be presented to the Knesset plenum for approval Wednesday.
There has been no full-time justice minister since Ramon's resignation last August.
Harsh critic
Among the ranks of the country's senior lawyers, Friedman stands out as being strongly opinionated, having courageous and original thinking, and not hesitating to come out strongly against the judicial system norms. In recent years he often criticized the system of selecting Supreme Court justices and its president in particular.
In an extensive article in last week's Yedioth Ahronoth, Friedman severely criticized Ramon's conviction. "The verdict raises strong feelings of one-sidedness. All testimony in Ramon's favor is disqualified, all evidence for him is rejected, but on the other hand any inconsistency on the prosecution's side is accepted with sympathy. So what do the judges do with such a weak and problematic case? They try to strengthen it by using harsh language against the accused."
Friedman frequently slammed "judicial activism": "The Supreme Court presumes to rule on state issues -- which should be handled by the government and Knesset," he said on one occasion.
"The court thinks it has the right to overrule the Knesset's laws," he charged in the past. "In any case the Supreme Court Judges' power should be reduced."
Reprinted with permission from Ynet. |
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