Members of Knesset cannot disrupt court proceedings and must refrain from doing so, Courts Administration Legal Adviser Barak Lazer wrote to Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik on Thursday.
The letter came after Likud MK Tally Gotliv and Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen disrupted Tuesday’s court hearing regarding petitions against the government’s decision to fire Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Ronen Bar.
Lazer began by noting that every citizen has the right to attend court hearings that are not behind closed doors. However, this right was not absolute.
“Unfortunately, in recent months, there has been a growing phenomenon where MKs appear in courtrooms during hearings of public interest and repeatedly disrupt the proper conduct of the proceedings,” Lazer wrote. “This behavior not only undermines the integrity of the judicial process but also infringes on the rights of litigants to have their day in court and present their arguments in an orderly and uninterrupted manner.”
According to Lazer, the phenomenon “reached its peak” during Tuesday’s hearing in a way that “made it impossible to continue the hearing without ordering their removal.”
“Until this hearing, the court benches demonstrated exceptional patience and, out of respect for those involved, did everything in their power to allow the proceedings to take place in the presence of all attendees, including MKs,” he wrote, adding that the “significant escalation” on Tuesday left the court with no choice.
'MKs not permitted to disrupt court hearings'
Lazer added that contrary to Gotliv’s claim that parliamentary immunity gave her the right to act as she did, MKs were not permitted to disrupt court hearings. He wrote that without going into the legal arguments, it was enough to point out that if Knesset plenum and committee chairs had the right to remove disruptive MKs from the room, then surely the judges did as well.
Lazer continued by expressing his hope that MKs who attend future court hearings maintain “appropriate and respectful conduct and will not compel the court to once again exercise its authority to remove them.”
“In these challenging and tense times that our country is experiencing, given the great importance of calming tensions and moderating discourse, and for the sake of the public interest, it seems that it would be better for all of us to avoid being drawn into such situations again. I would appreciate your bringing these matters to the attention of the MKs."