geoffrey robertson, welcome to hardtalk. how big a deal is the icc s decision to charge vladimir putin with war crimes and issue an arrest warrant? it s very important because it has removed a credibility that he would otherwise have had. he is banned now from 123 countries. so, in addition, he may well end up in the hague, not soon, of course, but in years to come, there may be a coup and he may, like milosevic, be handed over for. to ease sanctions. he may, in time, he s only 69, be stumbling into the dock like some old nazi, as there are at the moment in germany, so it is not without significance. i m imagining people listening to you in moscow and giving a look of complete distain to what they have just heard. the fact is vladimir putin is still president of russia, comfortable in the kremlin. you say he can t travel. actually, i spoke to a member of the duma, the russian parliament, just a few days ago yevgeny popov who said, forget it. of course, vladimir putin is
and you could say in all of these examples, there are worrying signs that governments are using their legislative power to undermine, for example, the independence of the courts. look at israel today, which is almost at a state of civil war, because the right wing netanyahu government is trying to hijack the rule of law by appointing politically helpfuljudges. this is a continuing fight, and yet it was a polish judge who announced the indictment of putin. so, don t despair. as we speak, we don t know how the drama in israel is going to play out. no. it may take many more weeks and months before it comes clear whether thatjudicial reform will be pushed through, but netanyahu s argument, and those associated with him, is that for too long, israel has been too beholden to what they pretty much describe as a dictatorship of the judiciary,
look at israel today, which is almost at a state of civil war, because the right wing netanyahu government is trying to hijack the rule of law by appointing politically helpfuljudges. this is a continuing fight, and yet it was a polish judge who announced the indictment of putin. so, don t despair. as we speak, we don t know how the drama in israel is going to play out. no. it may take many more weeks and months before it comes clear whether that judicial reform will be pushed through, but netanyahu s argument, and those associated with him, is that for too long, israel has been too beholden to what they pretty much describe as a dictatorship of thejudiciary, with thejudiciary appointed not by democratically elected politicians, but by an elite, who do not represent the true
the independence of the courts. look at israel today, which is almost at a state of civil war, because the right wing netanyahu government is trying to hijack the rule of law by appointing politically helpfuljudges. this is a continuing fight, and yet it was a polish judge who announced the indictment of putin. so, don t despair. as we speak, we don t know how the drama in israel is going to play out. no. it may take many more weeks and months before it comes clear whether thatjudicial reform will be pushed through, but netanyahu s argument, and those associated with him, is that for too long, israel has been too beholden to what they pretty much describe as a dictatorship of the judiciary, with the judiciary appointed not by democratically elected politicians, but by an elite, who do not
the right wing netanyahu government is trying to hijack the rule of law by appointing politically helpfuljudges. this is a continuing fight, and yet it was a polish judge who announced the indictment of putin. so, don t despair. as we speak, we don t know how the drama in israel is going to play out. no. it may take many more weeks and months before it comes clear whether that judicial reform will be pushed through, but netanyahu s argument, and those associated with him, is that for too long, israel has been too beholden to what they pretty much describe as a dictatorship of thejudiciary, with thejudiciary appointed not by democratically elected politicians, but by an elite, who do not represent the true voice and view of the people. isn t there something happening in democracies, where leaders are effectively tapping into people power and saying this