The Civil Service Commissioner's Authority Not to Convene the Committee
- As stated, the central question that arises in the framework of the additional hearing before us revolves around the scope of the Civil Service Commissioner's authority in proceedings for termination of the term of office of senior officers, and in particular, his ability not to convene the Appointments Committee despite the request of the relevant Minister. This is to the extent that he believes that the request lacks a factual basis, even prima facie, or that it is tainted by some other clear administrative flaw.
- In order to answer this question, we must return to the first concepts in administrative law. Concretely, the starting point for examining the question before us lies in the principle of the legality of administration, according to which, as is well known, an administrative authority has no powers other than those expressly granted to it by law (High Court of Justice 8136-06-25 The Chief Military Advocate v. the State Comptroller, paragraph 54 of the judge's judgment D. Barak-Erez [Nevo] (29.6.2026); High Court of Justice 8298/22 Public Defender's Office v. Attorney General, paragraph 29 of the Vice-President's judgment v. Solberg [Nevo] (31.8.2025) (hereinafter: Matter Public Defender's Office); High Court of Justice 1/49 Bejarano v. Minister of Police, IsrSC 2 80,84 (1949); Yitzhak Zamir Administrative authority Volume 1 - Public Administration 73-76 (2nd Expanded Edition 2010) (hereinafter: Zamir Administrative Authority A); Dafna Barak-Erez Administrative Law Vol. 1 97-98 (2010) (hereinafter: Barak-Erez Administrative Law)). For this purpose, we must examine what powers have been granted by law with regard to the procedure for termination of the term of office of a senior officer, and especially to whom. For the sake of this examination, we will turn our gaze once again to the sources that constitute the normative framework relevant to our case, and which were detailed at length at the outset.
- As mentioned, Section 41(A) Law Economic Competition establishes the basic rule according to which "The government will appoint, according to the minister's proposal, a competition commissioner; The commissioner will be a civil servant." and accordingly To the section 14 Law Interpretation This rule also applies to termination proceedings. Thus, the process of appointing the Commissioner of Competition, as well as the process of termination of her term, begins with the Minister's proposal, which in turn is brought to the door of the body authorized to appoint or dismiss - the government. To this layer is added, as stated, Resolution 4062, which establishes - in the context relevant to our matter - a series of procedural and substantive limitations regarding the manner in which the government's authority is exercised in the framework of termination proceedings of a series of senior officers, including the Director-General. At the center of these limitations is the provision that the term of office of such an officer shall not be terminated during the period of his term of office But according to the recommendation of The Appointments Committee (as determined in a later decision - Resolution 1148, as explained above) and only for specific reasons. In this context, section 4 of the resolution, which includes provisions regarding the manner of the committee's activity, is particularly important:
"4. Termination of term of office within the term or the period of service -