The Basic Laws of Israel are 14 constitutional laws of the State of Israel, and some of them can only be changed by a supermajority vote in the Knesset. Many of these laws are based on the individual liberties that were outlined in the Israeli Declaration of Independence. The Basic Laws deal with the formation and role of the principal institutions of the state, and with the relations between the state's authorities. They also protect the country's civil rights, although some of these rights were earlier protected at common law by the Supreme Court of Israel. The enjoys super-legal status, giving the Supreme Court the authority to disqualify any law contradicting it, as well as protection from Emergency Regulations. The Basic Laws were intended to be draft chapters of a future Israeli constitution, which has been postponed since 1950; they act as a de facto constitution until their future incorporation into a formal, unitary, written constitution. Israel is one of 6 countries that functions according to an uncodified constitutionconsisting of both material constitutional law, common law, and the provisions of these formal statutes.
Background
The State of Israel has an unwritten constitution. Instead of a formal written constitution, and in accordance with the Harari Decision of 13 June 1950 adopted by the Israeli Constituent Assembly, the State of Israel has enacted several Basic Laws of Israel dealing with government arrangements and with human rights. The Israeli Supreme Court President Aharon Barak ruled that the Basic Laws should be considered the state's constitution, and that became the common approach throughout his tenure. Opponents of this approach included Barak's colleague, Supreme Court JusticeMishael Cheshin. According to Israel's Declaration of Independence of 14 May 1948, a constituent assembly should have prepared a constitution by 1 October 1948. The delay and the eventual decision on 13 June 1950 to legislate a constitution chapter by chapter, resulted primarily from the inability of different groups in Israeli society to agree on the purpose of the state, on the state's identity, and on a long-term vision. Another factor was the opposition of David Ben-Gurion . Various bodies in Israel have called for the enactment of a formal constitution as a single document, and have submitted ideas and drafts for consideration. The Israeli Declaration of Independence stated that a formal constitution would be formulated and adopted no later than 1 October 1948. The deadline set in the declaration of independence proved unrealistic in light of the war between the new state and its Arab neighbors. General elections eventually took place on 25 January 1949 in order to elect a Constituent Assembly which would approve the new state's constitution. The Constituent Assembly convened on February 1949. It held several discussions about the constitution without reaching an agreement. For a number of reasons, Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, did not wish to develop a constitution. After only four meetings, the Constituent Assembly adopted on 16 February 1949 the Transition Law, by which means it became the "First Knesset". Because the Constituent Assembly did not prepare a constitution for Israel, the Knesset is the heir of the Assembly for the purpose of fulfilling this function. The Basic Laws do not cover all constitutional issues, and there is no deadline set for the completion of the process of merging them into one comprehensive constitution. There is no clear rule determining the precedence of Basic Laws over regular legislation, and in many cases such issues are left to interpretation by the judicial system.
The Harari Decision
In 1950 the First Knesset came to what was called the Harari Decision. Rather than draft a full constitution immediately, they would postpone the work, charging the Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee with drafting the document piecemeal. Each chapter would be called a Basic Law, and when all had been written they would be compiled into a complete constitution. Between 1958 and 1988 the Knesset passed nine Basic Laws, all of which pertained to the institutions of state. In 1992 the Knesset passed the first two Basic Laws that related to human rights and to the basis of the Supreme Court's recently declared powers of judicial review. These are and "". These were passed by votes of 32–21 and 23–0 respectively. In 1992 Aharon Barak, President of the Supreme Court, declared a "constitutional revolution" and attached constitutional ascendancy to the Basic Laws of Israel.
Procedure for amendment
The Knesset enjoys de jureparliamentary supremacy, and can pass any law by a simple majority, even one that might arguably conflict with a Basic Laws of Israel, unless the basic law has specific conditions for its modification. Basic laws which include specific conditions include, but are not limited to:
