Israel's Supreme Court's Powers to Strike Down Laws It Sees as Unreasonable

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Opposition lawmakers walked out of Israel's parliament yesterday. Their boycott meant the law was passed, 64 votes in favour and zero against. The new law will crimp the Supreme Court's ability to strike down laws it sees as unreasonable. It has been pushed through by the most religious nationalist element of Prime Minister Netanyahu's coalition government.

A seemingly small change to the Supreme Court’s powers to adjudicate “reasonableness” represents a significant risk to the country’s democratic functioning—and 30 weeks of popular protest about it will continue. Our correspondent looks into why Vietnam’s schools produce such excellent students (09:54). And examining the debate on whether cryptocurrency trading conflicts with Islamic strictures (15:15).

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer