Doing Business in Israel- Dispute Resolution

Key regulation

The law in Israel comprehensively covers execution and enforcement of contracts and agreements. It may be determined as a rule that agreements in Israel are honored by their parties, and the written word is assigned a genuine weight. The law, practice and case law of the courts that have attended to enforce and interpret contracts have all led to the formation of a stable business environment for executing and successfully realizing agreements.

Litigation

The Israeli Judicial system is comprised of three levels of courts, The Supreme Court, the District Courts and the Magistrates’ Courts. Independence of the judiciary is guaranteed from intervention by the two other branches of state, the Legislative Authority and the Executive Authority. The Supreme Court, which resides in Jerusalem, heads the judicial pyramid. The Presidents of the Supreme Court enjoy dignified public standing, equivalent to that of the heads of the other arms of the democratic regime. The district courts, in which there are instances that specialize in taxation and economics fields, deal with large cases, including bankruptcy and receivership cases. Local courts deal with disputes of smaller scales. There is also a large network of small claims courts, in which the claims are adjudicated by the litigants themselves without the mediation of attorneys. In addition, there are labor courts; family courts and traffic courts. The Antitrust Court operates within the District Court in Jerusalem.

The accessibility of the courts is high. Proceedings are public, except for special circumstances. Verdicts may easily be retrieved from the computer system of the courts.

Both level of compliance with verdicts and the level of their enforcement are high.On the other hand, proceedings tend to extend over quite long periods of time. This shortcoming of the system has been subject to constant public criticism, and the Court Administration is making significant efforts to achieve improvement and control to prevent the procrastination of proceedings. Despite these efforts, one should expect, in case of a significant lawsuit, to face a proceeding that will last several years.

Arbitration

Business arbitration in Israel is very common. The Israeli Arbitration Law and extensive case law from the courts of the various instances grant arbitration significant weight in resolving business conflicts. Business conflicts are often transferred to mediation or arbitration proceeding at the initiative of the courts, with the intent of expediting and streamlining the resolution of the conflicts brought to them.