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New civil order: The justice system is changing from end to end.

Most of you have never heard of it

After years of work, a reform came into force today that dramatically changes the cumbersome civil law regulations - but it comes at a price.

The Bar Association warns that efficiency is not everything, and may come at the expense of justice.

There is also an important lesson in this story about what the press tends to miss

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• Department of Justice

• Avi Chimi

• Avi Nissenkorn

• The courts

Daniel Dolev

Friday, 01 January 2021, 18:51

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Anyone who has tried to have a small talk with a lawyer in recent weeks might have encountered a high probability of rejection, and a more or less polite form of response: "Sorry, I'm crazy about filing things in court before the end of the year. Talk to me after January 1."

The lawyers did not suddenly become accountants who rush to file documents before the end of the tax year.

The reason is that today (Friday) a revolution took place that changes the way most lawsuits are conducted in Israel.

And this revolution passed in almost complete silence, at least outside the economic press.

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The rules vary fundamentally.

Ministry of Justice (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Because here too - to be honest - there was almost no preoccupation with the subject, here is a brief explanation for the benefit of readers about what will happen in the courtrooms of Israel starting next week.

Civil law

includes most areas of law - such as contracts, torts, labor law, family law and corporate law.

Most of the time, these are the issues that occupy most of the justice system.

Procedural regulations

are the provisions that determine how each such proceeding is conducted.

How to file a statement of claim, which court is competent to hear it, how long it takes the other party to respond, how to summon witnesses, what is the fee to be paid and hundreds of other such questions.

It sounds technical and boring, but in the end, the procedure is a person's way of achieving justice in the justice system.

To clarify this point the sentence can be likened to a game of tennis.

Every player wants to win, but to determine who wins there must be a set of "technical" rules that will make clear how the game is conducted in general.

The rules of procedure are the pitch lines, the height of the net, the way the points are distributed and even the stipulation that the ball must be hit only with a bat and not, say, kick it.

And this weekend these rules are changing fundamentally.

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To the full article

Major changes in the new regulations

• The length of pleadings will be limited: 11 pages in peace, 15 in the district

• A "legal secretary" will reject documents that do not meet the requirements, without a judge's decision

• The regulations set strict deadlines for the progress of the procedure, and make it difficult to obtain delays

• Attorneys will need to file all applications and a list of witnesses at an early stage

Regulations that were in effect until last Thursday were mostly enacted in 1984, and have since been amended in a patch-by-patch method.

The result was a cumbersome system of more than 500 different regulations.

In the image of the same system, civil laws in Israel were also cumbersome and lengthy.

Former Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni has set up a committee headed by former director of courts, Justice Moshe Gal, which has formulated the new regulations file.

The work lasted for years, and in September 2018, the then Minister Shaked announced in a solemn ceremony the new regulatory file: a "muscular" file of 180 regulations, designed to bring in one line - efficiency.

Put an end to rejections, and the reform went into effect on his last day in office.

Nissenkorn (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

The new regulations, for example, limit the length of pleadings.

If today a statement of claim or a statement of defense can reach tens and even hundreds of pages, after the reform a statement of claim in the Magistrate's Court will be limited to 11 pages, and in the District Court to 15 pages.

In claims to districts with a value of more than two and a half million shekels, it will be possible to submit a 30-page statement of claim.

This change makes it possible to shorten the processing time of the document, but on the other hand affects the way the parties raise their claims, and may lead them to waive some of the claims.

The new regulations also create a more rigid timeline, giving the court many tools to ensure the procedure is conducted quickly.

From imposing expenses on specific requests, through greatly reducing the possibility of requesting extensions for deadlines, to rejecting statements of claim that do not meet the requirements of the regulations.

But efficiency comes at a price.

"The pendulum is moving to the edge"

Immediately with the announcement of the new regulations a world war began.

The best men of the reform - the administration of the courts and the Ministry of Justice - wanted to bring it into force within a few months.

On the other hand, the Bar Association tried to object and argued that the regulations would harm the public, nor would they lead to the desired efficiency.

To expedite the procedure, regulations precede the date of various steps to be taken.

For example, until the pre-trial hearing, the parties will have to compile and submit the list of witnesses they intend to summon, as well as all the requests they intend to submit.

This means that much of the work that could previously have lasted until later stages of the trial will now be done close to receiving the case for treatment.

The bureau's argument is that this will increase the costs of managing the early stages, and reduce the incentive for the parties to reach a compromise, because they have already invested most of the resources.

In general, the Bureau argues that the promotion of efficiency is done at the expense of fairness of procedure to the parties.

"There is no need to approve postponements and idle extensions," a lawyer who agrees with the bureau's position said this week.

"But the process should bring a fair result. Were you willing to lose a case for the efficiency of the hearing? Were you willing to lose a case because suddenly your lawyer understands that another witness needs to be brought in, but are not willing to allow him to add it because the deadline has passed?"

"The principle of just inquiry has been trampled upon."

Head of the Bar Association, Adv. Avi Chimi (Photo: Reuven Castro)

The head of the bureau, Avi Chimi, also wrote similar things this week to the replacement prime minister, Bnei Gantz, after learning of Avi Nissenkorn's resignation letter.

"Another prominent aspect of the regulations is the preference for an obscure principle called 'efficiency' over a fair clarification of the procedure," Chimi wrote.

"A considerable reduction in the possibility of clarifying the procedure and even a serious violation of the right of appeal, as well as a poor duty of reasoning, will create a serious violation of the litigant's ability to receive a fair trial. Efficiency is important but not everything ".

The regulations were supposed to take effect in February 2019, but the bureau's struggle bore fruit and persuaded Ministers Shaked and Ohana to postpone the deadline again and again.

Nissenkorn put an end to this, and six months ago announced that January 1 is the deadline.

Who knew then that it would also be his last day on the job (including 48 hours from the moment he submitted his resignation until it took effect).

In recent weeks, the bureau has even petitioned the High Court, claiming, among other things, that the scope of the reform requires it to be passed in Knesset legislation, but the High Court rejected the petition and gave the green light to the regulations.

Despite the long delay until they take effect, it can be expected that in the coming months there will still be birth pains for lawyers, as well as judges, who will have a hard time getting used to the new order.

Only then will it be possible to truly assess the effects of the reform.

Between lack of interest and injustice

So why, in fact, have most Israeli citizens not heard anything about this reform?

The blame this time is on the media - including the MK. The average media consumer in Israel may think that 85% of the cases in the courts are criminal, and the rest are hearings in the High Court.

The branches of civil law are not considered “sexy,” and therefore receive less exposure.

For the same reason, TV series and movies about a trial also usually deal with a criminal trial.

One can also think of another reason to focus on these legal wings, as opposed to the neglect of others: in criminal law there are huge and understandable power gaps between the parties.

Even in the tiniest case, a suspect or defendant faces the enormous power of the police and the prosecutor's office.

They can interrogate him, enter his home for search, and eventually even send him to jail.

These power gaps require an outsider who can expose an abuse of power by the investigating and prosecuting authorities.

This is exactly the role of the press.

The hearing on the indictment against the killer has been postponed eight times.

Maya Vishniak

But whatever the reason, the result is civil law (apart from a few exceptions, such as the Supreme Court) usually pushed overall economic press press. When you add to that the subject of "technical" as the rules of procedure, the result is greater disinterest - and rightly so.

If the issue still Sounds a bit familiar to the readers of this column, it's probably because in recent months it has been written here many times about the inefficiency and length of proceedings in criminal law. It is written here that the hearing on the indictment in the case has already been postponed seven times, this week it has been postponed for the eighth time, currently to the end of January, but unlike civil law, there is currently no reform in the criminal justice system.

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