Judicial Review of National Security
David Scharia
Reviews and Awards
"Most observers of national security programs and military actions recognize that executive leaders and military commanders at times have taken actions that harm human rights or exceed legal authorities. If courts have a say in such matters at all, judges' opinions often come too late to redress the wrongs that have occurred. In Judicial Review of National Security, David Scharia elegantly presents the experience of judicial review from modern Israel, where in many instances real-time judicial review has managed to temper the government's national security actions, benefiting human rights and the rule of law. The lessons Scharia deftly draws from Israeli history may inspire those hoping to bring judicial review values to other cultures." -William C. Banks, Director, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, Board of Advisors Distinguished Professor, Syracuse University College of Law
"Judicial Review of National Security challenges the conventional wisdom that courts cannot review national security measures in times of crisis. David Scharia persuasively demonstrates how one court, Israel's Supreme Court, has done just that -- again and again. This book will forever change the debate about courts and national security." -David Cole, Hon. George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy, Georgetown University Law Center
"David Scharia's book is an important contribution on a difficult subject - judicial review of executive action on the most acute questions of national security and the rule of law. His examination of the practice and jurisprudence of the Israeli Supreme Court shines a light on its activist approach, not free from controversy and debate, but an exemplar of judicial engagement and real-time adjudication on pressing issues that reach to the heart of Israel's democracy and governance. This book makes that practice and jurisprudence more accessible and gives us a lens through which to view and assess it." -Sir Daniel Bethlehem QC, Barrister, London, Formerly, principal Legal Adviser of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office
"Judicial Review of National Security is Scharia's in-depth study of, as the title says, judicial review of national security - specifically with respect to Israel and its court system, however, and not on a broader or comparative basis. It is a thorough, polished study - very well written and organized" --LAWFARE