BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 15.1//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Eastern Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:Eastern Standard Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250301T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:Eastern Daylight Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:The Moynihan Institute and the Law in World Affairs series pres ents Professor Barak Medina from the Hebrew University of JerusalemMost de mocratic countries have a written Constitution\, and a few do not. What ma kes the Israeli case unique is that even after 76 years\, the question of whether the state has a written Constitution—and\, if so\, what its conten t is—remains unresolved. This controversy arises from the commitment made by the state’s founders\, both domestically and internationally\, to enact a Constitution\, a commitment that has persisted without being fulfilled. The Israeli Supreme Court decided\, in 1995\, that the Basic-Laws enacted by the legislature are constitutionally binding and justify employing jud icial review of legislation. It then decided\, in 2024\, that certain amen dments to these Basic Laws\, which were part of the government’s attempt a t the so-called “Legal Reform\,” are invalid. These decisions can be expla ined and justified based on the concepts of democratic legitimacy and Cons titutional Identity. These decisions thus provide an opportunity to explor e basic concepts of constitutional law.Barak Medina is the Landecker-Feren cz Professor of the Study of Protection of Minorities and Vulnerable Group s at the Faculty of Law of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He studies constitutional law and human rights law. Professor Medina has served as re ctor (provost) of the Hebrew University (2017-2022) and as dean of the Fac ulty of Law (2009-2012). He is currently a senior visiting fellow at Harva rd Law School. DTEND:20241118T190500Z DTSTAMP:20260512T004103Z DTSTART:20241118T174500Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Written or Unwritten Constitution? \nOn Democratic Legitimacy and \ nJudicial Review in Israel UID:RFCALITEM639141288633708959 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:
The Moynihan Institute and the Law in Wor ld Affairs series presents Professor Barak Medina from the Hebrew Universi ty of Jerusalem

Most democratic countries have a written Constitution\, and a few do not. What makes the Israeli case un ique is that even after 76 years\, the question of whether the state has a written Constitution—and\, if so\, what its content is—remains unresolved . This controversy arises from the commitment made by the state’s founders \, both domestically and internationally\, to enact a Constitution\, a com mitment that has persisted without being fulfilled.

The Israeli Sup reme Court decided\, in 1995\, that the Basic-Laws enacted by the legislat ure are constitutionally binding and justify employing judicial review of legislation. It then decided\, in 2024\, that certain amendments to these Basic Laws\, which were part of the government’s attempt at the so-called “Legal Reform\,” are invalid. These decisions can be explained and justifi ed based on the concepts of democratic legitimacy and Constitutional Ident ity. These decisions thus provide an opportunity to explore basic concepts of constitutional law.

Barak Medina is the Landecker-Ferencz Profes sor of the Study of Protection of Minorities and Vulnerable Groups at the Faculty of Law of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He studies constitut ional law and human rights law. Professor Medina has served as rector (pro vost) of the Hebrew University (2017-2022) and as dean of the Faculty of L aw (2009-2012). He is currently a senior visiting fellow at Harvard Law Sc hool.

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