[JURIST] The Israeli cabinet on Sunday voted 13-11 in support of a bill to restrict the ability of the Israeli Supreme Court [official website, in Hebrew] to overturn laws passed by the Knesset [official website] and granting the Knesset authority to revise laws overturned by the court. The controversial measure, proposed [JURIST report] last year by Israeli Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann [official profile], would provide the first statutory guide on the Supreme Court's annulment power. Currently, that power is interpreted to reach all Knesset-passed measures deemed to contravene one of the Basic Laws [text]; the proposed bill would reduce that scope to allow Supreme Court annulment only of those laws contravening the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty and Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation [text]. The proposal would also grant the Knesset authority to revise laws overturned by the Supreme Court, thereby renewing those laws' validity. In those cases, the Knesset could overturn a Supreme Court ruling with an ordinary one-round of voting rather than the 61-vote majority in the 120-member body in three rounds of voting currently required to overturn the Supreme Court. The bill will next be considered by the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee [official website]. Haaretz has more. Ynetnews has additional coverage.

The bill, purportedly based on the Canadian model of judicial review which allows the legislature to protect some laws from review under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [text; see especially s. 33], has been strongly opposed by members of judicial community. Meir Shamgar [official profile], the president of the Israeli Supreme Court between 1983 and 1995, signed a public petition [JURIST report] against the proposal, arguing that "abolishing substantive judicial review endangers the freedoms that have been legislated to date...[and will not] advance the rule of law" but erode it because "a majority of Knesset members" could, at any time, restrict fundamental freedoms granted to Israeli citizens. Proponents of the bill, including Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert [official profile], argue that the measure promotes the national system of checks and balances.

[JURIST] Bolivian President Evo Morales [official website; BBC profile] announced Saturday on state television plans to send a bill to the Bolivian National Congress [official website, in Spanish] seeking approval of a national referendum on proposed reforms to the country's constitution [text]. The move comes days after the Morales administration refused to recognize [JURIST report] a National Electoral Court (CNE) [official website] decision suspending the constitutional referendum, stating that the relevant letters sent by the CNE to Morales have "no legal effect." According to Reuters [report], Morales' address called for Congressional approval to ensure the CNE "'has no pretexts'" to annul the referendum, currently set by Morales for December 7 [JURIST report; decree text]. From La Paz, La Razon has local coverage, in Spanish.

If approved, the proposed constitutional amendments would distribute more of Bolivia's land and energy resource income to the country's indigenous population. In May, the Bolivian National Congress approved a referendum on Morales' own leadership, personally proposed [JURIST reports] by the president last December in a bid to legitimize his campaign for the constitutional changes. The results of that August vote permitted Morales to retain his office; several of the provincial governors also confirmed by that referendum oppose the constitutional reforms [JURIST reports]. Weeks of regional protests in affluent states opposing the income redistribution proposals -- leading to a shut down of highways and a small airport [AP report] on Friday -- culminated in Morales accusing opposition governors of a "civil coup against democracy" [AFP report].