Taking a small but important step forward toward the goal of having a written constitution, the Israeli Cabinet on Sunday gave the green light to the Justice Ministry draft of a Basic Law on Human Rights.
The ministerial committee on legislation is to take up the minutiae of the measure soon.
Justice Minister Dan Meridor declined to predict a completion date, but he predicted that the law would be passed, by a broad majority of Knesset members, “within a reasonable period.”
The proposed law would thereafter be amendable only by a majority of two-thirds of the house.
It provides for a special constitutional court, comprising seven justices of the High Court, who could examine and disqualify other legislation which they ruled contradicted the provisions of the Basic Law on Human Rights.
The Knesset has over the years passed a number of Basic Laws on various aspects of governance and administration, which, eventually, are designed to be incorporated into a constitution.
But the issue of human rights has always run into obstacles from the Orthodox parties, who were concerned over preserving the rule of halacha on matters of personal status.
Under Meridor’s prodding, the ministry drafters have now come up with a document that has won postive responses from the legal and academic community.
Because it expressly excludes “the rules of marriage and divorce” from its own jurisdiction, the law is likely to also gain the approval of the religious establishment.
Professor Ruth Gavison of the Hebrew University, a leading human rights campaigner and noted secularist, pointed out this appeasement to the Orthodox, but offered grudging overall kudos for the measure.
GOOD CHANCE OF PASSING
“This can’t do any harm,” she said in an interview Monday, “and it can do some good and it has a good chance of passing.”
The 24-clause draft bill opens with a ringing affirmation that “human rights in Israel are founded on recognition of humanity itself as a supreme value, of the sanctity of human life and of freedom. They are to be respected in accordance with the spirit of the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.”
Clause Two proclaims equality before the law. “All are equal before the law. There will be no discrimination between men and women or between persons on grounds of religion, nationality, race, ethnic group, land of origin or any other grounds, when such grounds are irrelevant.”
Other clauses enshrine personal freedom, freedom of travel, freedom of access into the country, freedom of faith and religion, freedom of expression, freedom of creativity and scientific research, and freedom of association.
Apart from the express exclusion of marriage-and-divorce, the law also excludes from its own jurisdiction soldiers and police officers, whose human rights can be encroached upon, “by law and for reasons of public welfare, government or discipline.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
