The Australian Jewish Association has lashed the representative body of the nation’s judges and magistrates for speaking out against judicial changes being mooted in Israel.
AJA president David Adler pointed his finger specifically at Federal Court Justice Mordecai Bromberg, a one-time Labor candidate recently appointed president of the Australian Law Reform Commission.
“We heard from another member of the Australian Judicial Officers Association – a senior member of the judiciary – that Bromberg has been active in pushing for this statement to be made,” Dr Adler told The Australian.
He said the statement suggested the AJOA, which claims to represent more than half of the country’s judges and magistrates, had a “political axe to grind”.
Israel’s judicial reforms, proposed by its centre-right coalition government in January, continue to be the source of fierce controversy. Among proposed reforms are changes to how judges are selected and in what circumstances the parliament could overrule the supreme court.
Opponents said the changes would diminish judicial independence, while proponents say the government has a mandate given changes were an electoral promise.
The Australian Judicial Officers Association at the end of April released a statement expressing concern about the proposed reforms.
“In their present form, the proposed laws risk undermining the rule of law and jeopardising the independence of the judiciary as well as potentially impacting upon human rights,” it read.
Read the article by Noah Yim and Janet Albrechtsen in The Australian.