Justice & Institutions
The Attorney General
The government should be free to reject the Attorney General's legal advice.
Under current practice the Attorney General's opinion binds the government unless a court rules otherwise.
What is at stake
The Attorney General advises the government on the law and also heads the state prosecution. Ministry legal advisers are civil servants chosen by tender, not by the minister. Under current practice their opinion binds the government until a court says otherwise. All three points are contested.
The case for
- Officials nobody elected block policies a government was elected to carry out.
- The same person advises ministers and decides whether to prosecute them.
- A minister should be able to pick his own lawyer, and to receive advice rather than instructions.
The case against
- A legal adviser who owes his job to the minister tells the minister what he wants to hear.
- With no constitution, these gatekeepers are what keeps appointments, tenders and emergency powers inside the law.
- A government that disagrees with a legal opinion can already take it to court. That is the remedy.
Both sides get the same number of points at comparable length. That is a rule of this site, not a coincidence.
What the next Knesset could decide
The next government could legislate to split the Attorney General's two roles, make ministry advisers political appointments, strip the advice of its binding force, or change how the Attorney General is appointed and dismissed.