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Lawyering for the Rule of Law introduces a new model of government lawyering in which government lawyers function as an ancillary mechanism that enables the court to expand its influence on policy-making within the political branches by forming out-of-court settlements. It discusses the centrality of government lawyers with regard to judicial mobilization and the enforcement of social reforms through adjudication, and sheds light on particular functions of government lawyers as adjudicators and facilitators of institutional arrangements. It also discusses the ethical and professional dilemmas of government lawyers in judicial review and the relationship between lawyers' professional morality and outcomes in litigation.
List of contents
Introduction: the government's lawyer; 1. The Israeli legal system and the rise of judicial activism in the High Court of Justice; 2. The High Court of Justice Department (HCJD) and the model of lawyering for the rule of law; 3. Litigating for the government; 4. The dilemma of two masters; 5. Sorting things out: government lawyers in transformative litigation; 6. The government lawyer as adjudicator: 'pre-petitions' and the HCJD; Conclusion.
About the author
Yoav Dotan is Edwin A. Goodman Professor of Law and former Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Summary
Yoav Dotan examines the role of government lawyers in the rise of judicial activism in Israel and explores the question of judicial mobilization at large. Contains an original, large-scale, quantitative study of around 2,000 court files.
