Levin: A-G 'trampling right of representation' at judge selection hearing

Justice Minister Yariv Levin attacked Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara's representation of him in the upcoming hearing on convening the Judicial Selection Committee, writing in a letter to her on Wednesday morning that she was trampling on his basic right to legal representation and was operating to the benefit of the petitioners.

Baharav-Miara had left the justice minister in the dark about legal representation and arguments ahead of the respondents' filing deadline on Wednesday, he said.

No one contacted Levin about whether the attorney-general would represent him or not until his office pressed, but an August 13 meeting failed to answer the question.

Levin said that he was only informed by Baharav-Miara in a Thursday phone call that she would represent him, but disagreed with his position on his refusal to convene the Judicial Selection Committee.

Levin's disagreement with his representation 

She would file her legal opinion, with his own arguments attached, Baharav-Miara allegedly said. Levin said that he was unsatisfied with her portrayal of his positions in the document, and sent her corrections -- but the final text he only received Tuesday night failed to satisfy.

"Anyone that reads the response on your behalf will think that it's actually a petition against me and not an answer on my behalf," Levin wrote.

Levin said that he was not being represented properly in accordance with his rights, and disagreed with Baharav-Miara's statement to the court that he had not asked for alternative representation, only that he had asked her to represent him faithfully to his position.

"How can you call it a legal procedure when instead of two parties, the lawyer of one of them comes and also represents the position of the other party?" said Levin, saying it was like a "soccer game in which only one team participates and scores on an empty net."

Since the formation of the government, Levin said that Baharav-Miara had repeatedly taken positions in extreme opposition to the government, leaving officials without legal representation on extremely sensitive matters.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid denounced Levin for what he said was an aggressive attack on civil servants and the rule of law. Yesh Atid was one of the petitioners for the September 7 hearing.

"If Yariv Levin is so afraid of the petition, he can convene the committee this week and do the one thing he consistently avoids doing - his job," Lapid wrote on social media.

The second petitioner, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG) said that Levin was moving to dismiss the Attorney-General with the letter.

Levin has refused to convene the Judicial Selection Committee until a reform of the body has been implemented.