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The Gemmorah (Sanhedrin 104b) describes that the members of the Great Assembly dealt with the question of who does or does not deserve a share in the World to Come.

As they demonstratively disagreed with Heaven (Bat Kol), it is assumed that they didn't have an existing tradition but tried to judge the persons themselves (at least part of it).

As it seemingly has no practical Halachic value, no mentioning that the question is out of their powers anyway, why would they deal with such a question in the first place?

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See Sefer Ha'aros from R' Elyashev z"l (Kesubos 11b) who suggests that it has practical ramifications, since the Heavenly court rules in accordance with the rulings of the earthly Beis Din.

אולי משום שפוסקין למעלה כלמטה, וכדחזינן בפ' חלק (סנהדרין קד ב) לגבי שלמה המלך שבקשו וכו' ומנעום.

See further discussion here (in Hebrew).

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  • Surely someone before Rav Elyasiv z”l addressed this question.
    – DonielF
    Jun 6, 2019 at 22:51
  • @DonielF I made no pretensions that he was the only one to address this question. I wrote a source that I know. You're welcome to add other sources. Did you read the discussion that I linked to? Someone there claims that the Maharsha said a similar thing (but didn't provide a Mar'eh Makom).
    – IsraelReader
    Jun 6, 2019 at 23:00

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