Court orders that amendment to Basic Law not go into effect until next government in unprecedented ruling.
The Supreme Court today (Sunday) issued an interim order against the recently-passed Incapacitation Law and ordered the State to justify why it should not postpone the application of the law until the next Knesset.
In addition, it was decided that an expanded panel of 11 Supreme Court justices would hear the petition against the law after a three-justice panel discussed the petition last Thursday.
The Incapacitation Law is an amendment to the Basic Law, which states that a Prime Minister minister can be declared unable to serve only in a state of physical or mental incapacity.
The court’s action does not strike down the Incapacitation Law, but does prevent it from going into effect during the current government’s term.
Basic Laws have quasi-constitutional status in Israel, and the Supreme Court has never struck down a Basic Law or issued an interim order against one of them before. Such an act is equivalent to the US Supreme Court striking down or issuing an interim order against an amendment to the American Constitution.
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