High Court President Esther Hayut canceled her retirement ceremony scheduled for later this month, KAN News reported on Sunday evening.
Hayut, who will retire when she turns 70 on October 16, argued that there is ‘no point’ to doing so as long as Justice Minister Yariv Levin fails to convene the Judicial Selection Committee, responsible for naming her replacement on the court bench.
In July, Levin said that the Judicial Selection Committee would not be convened until it had been reformed. The panel had not been assembled since April 2022, and the Knesset is currently in recess, unable to begin the legislative process for a reform bill after the Sukkot holiday.
The High Court hearing on the Judicial Selection Committee, which was supposed to take place last month, was postponed to October 22, after Hayut’s retirement.
Yariv Levin: We will name a replacement on our terms
As per the report, Justice Minister Yariv Levin said that if the committee would convene to name the top justice’s replacement, they would not be chosen by seniority.
By convention, Supreme Court presidents are chosen by seniority, making Justice Isaac Amit heir apparent. However, Yosef Elron defied tradition and submitted his candidacy to be the next court president, bringing the court’s tradition into question.
Michael Starr and Ariella Marsden contributed to this report.
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