Members of Knesset cannot disrupt court proceedings and must refrain from doing so, court system legal advisor Barak Lazer wrote in a letter to Knesset legal advisor Sagit Afik on Thursday.
The letter came after Likud MK Tally Gotliv and Otzma Yehudit Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Almog Cohen disrupted a court hearing on Tuesday regarding petitions against the government’s decision to fire Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
Lazer began by noting that every citizen had the right to attend court hearings that are not held behind closed doors. However, this right was not absolute.
“Unfortunately, in recent months, there has been a growing phenomenon where Members of Knesset 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 Members of Knesset,” Lazer 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 claims, parliamentary immunity gave her the right to act as she did, and MKs were not permitted to disrupt court hearings. Lazer wrote that without going into the legal arguments, it was enough to point out that if Knesset Committee and Knesset Plenum chairs had the right to remove disruptive MKs from the room, then surely the judges did as well.
Lazer concluded 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 attention to bringing these matters to the attention of the Members of Knesset,” Lazer concluded.
