The case for judicial review over social rights: Israeli perspectives

This article seeks to introduce an Israeli perspective into the debate over the appropriate constitutional status of social rights. Specifically, it addresses the question of the desirability and feasibility of judicial review on the basis of constitutionally protected social rights, which is a major source of contention in contemporary Israeli constitutional discourse. It seems that contemporary political and intellectual trends lean towards supporting the inclusion of social rights in any future constitutional instrument, albeit in a weak form, without substantive judicial review. It describes the main contours of the Israeli debate over constitutional judicial review, as applied to social rights, and reviews both potential incorporation projects; it concludes by arguing that the difficulties associated with constitutionaliz-ing social rights should not lead to an abdication of the court's role in enforcing such rights, but rather to a policy of judicial restraint in exercising constitutional supervision.