Israeli law

The law of Israel is a mixed system of common law and civil law.

History

Sources of Israeli law

Future trends

Religion and law in Israel

Lawyering in Israel

Lawyering in Israel is extremely argumentative, vindictive, formalistic, lengthy, overburdened with paperwork, expensive, frustrating, unrewarding and in most cases, a nightmare. The legal community is divided into two group:s old school and fresh graduates. The recently graduated outnumber the "old guard". The old school lawyers cloak themselves with an aura of dignity and respect, and tend to spice their arguments with ancient proverbs in Aramaic, as well more archaic Talmudic lessons. The younger generation is constantly being criticized for speaking plain Hebrew, discarding unnecessary formal gestures, and generally devalueing the reputation of the profession. Yet, the notion of collegiality, as practices in the U.S. and U.K. has become almost extinct in Israel. It is customary for lawyers to submit Court applications without notice to their advrsaries. It is customary not to grant extensions, and is also acceptable among lawyers to gain tactical ex parte advantages. The general stress of living in a country in constant war has created a nasty, vindictive legal culture, where it is commonly believed by Israeli lawyers that the key to winning is by humiliating, inflicting pain and destroying your opponent with whatever artillery you can find.

Lawyers in Israsel are more than willing, and even eager to sue one another for malpractice for even the most insignificant legal mistakes, contrary to most Common Law jurisdictions, where it is hard to find attorneys willing to sue their colleagues. There is no "Statement of Client Rights" which lawyers must adhere to, and therefore many clients end up signing retainers with vague language that eventually enriches the lawyer, and leaves the client very little of the proceeds.

The culture of "focus on yourself" is so pervasive, even Judges worry only about their reputation and promotion. It is not uncommon for Israeli judges to leak stories to the press through their family members in order to aggrandize their names. Israeli Judges can often be insulting and impatient. it is common criticism in Israel that Judgements written by Judges can never be predicted, as the doctrine of stare_decisis (controlling precedent)is practically unheard of. Judges also tend to show bias in favor of the particular attorneys appearing before them. For example, attorneys who are members of the Committee for Election of Judges are more likely to win, as Judges in Israel are mainly concerned with "promotion". It is not uncommon for a Judge to keep cases open for five years and more. Judgements can languish for years after trial, and thee is actually no mechanism in place to expedite the issuance of judgments. Animosity among Judges in Israel is also very prevalent. Recently, a Tel Aviv Judges sued her Supervising Judge for refusal to grant her certain administrative priviledges. The Supreme Court in Jerusalem is also notorious for its uselessness. Ordinary litigants can expect their first Court appearance scheduled one year, or more, after filing, and Judgments can languish for two or three years after final oral argument.

The current President of the Israeli Supreme Court, the Hon. Dorit_Beinish, is involved in a highly publicized and bitter power clash with the current Minister of Justice, Prof. Daniel_Friedmann. Prof. Friedman is said to be so furious that his female Professor friend, Nili Cohen's candidacy to the Supreme Court has been torpedoed by Beinisch, that he is now (2007) on a mission to scale down to the bare essentials any and all prerogatives and powers of the current Supreme Court President, Beinisch. Prof. Friedman was appointed Minister of Justice in 2007 by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, (himself under several criminal corruption probes), following the resignation of Haim_Ramon, the former Minister, now convicted on sexual harrassment charges. The fact that the Minister of Justice is being indicted, tried and convicted of sexual harrassment charges is yet another factor that does not reflect well on the integrity of the legal system in Israel.

Also adversely influential on the legal climate of uncertainty is Ms. Beinish' predecessor, the Hon. Aharon_Barak's contributions during his tenure at the Supreme Court. Mr. Barak is responsible for abolishing the requirement that a litigant prove he has "standing" in a case, and thus opening the door for anybody to Petition the Supreme Court for almost any relief whatsover. Also attributable to Mr. Barak is the introduction of the doctrines of "reasonableness" and "balanceability" to almost any aspect of the law. Judges are now required to balance evething according to their subjective theories of equitable relief. Consequently, Israeli law has been stripped of all certainties and nothing is absolute anymore. Any given statute can no longer be read verbatim anymore, because at trial, a Judge may balance the equitities directly in opposition to what the law says. This makes an attorney's job in Israel one of the hardest, since it is impossible to give a client any prediction whatsover.

The old art of advocacy in Israel has been reduced to the ability to manufacture mountains of paperwork, and thus chances of success in a case depend on fight back by creating even taller mountains of documents. Israeli Judges are not forgiving when it comes to minor attorney procedural mistakes. Even the slightest procedural mistake, such as incorrect title of a motion, or an incorrect reliance on a subsection of a statute, can unleash sarcastic criticisism from a Judge, who tend to forget that the client, a live human being is about to suffer tremendously, financially and otherwise from such innocent mistakes. Judges also tend to hit clients with huge penalties, in the form of "costs" when their lawyers lose a position in Court. Many times such costs are exorbitant and disproprtionate to the value of the case. In general verdicts in favor of plaintiffs are stingy, and miniscule by American standards. Exactly the opposite approach is taken when a Judge slaps a litigant with costs.

The [Israel_Bar_Association] is not a respactable organization either. Most lawyers do not see its relevance in their daily practice and shun away from participation in its events, and from the Bar elections. The Central Committee is mired with hostilities, with members regularly suing each other, and publishing horrific articles against each other. The tenure of Dr. Shlomo_Cohen as Chairman of the Israel Bar has brought it to extreme lows. Cohen launched a campaign to invade the reserve funds of the Tel Aviv District. Other litigation started concerning endorsement of malpractice insurance, and yet ugly pictures were seen when Cohen's people interrupted an event sponsored by the International Jewish Lawyers' Association with feasts. Complaints were also raised about wasteful job handouts, exploitation of Bar resources as amicus curiae in private litigation, irrelevant publishing house, overseas trips and over-politization of the Bar.

Finally, the legal system itself, although on the surface appears to be democratic and socially advanced, embodies into it draconian and inhumane tools designed to oppress the Arab minority and the Palestinians who are affected by the political policy of occupation [1] and apartheid, which the Courts tend to turn a blind eye in the face of human misery.

External links

The Bar of Israel
The Courts of Israel (Judicial branch of Israel)
The Knesset (Legislative branch of Israel)
Israeli Ministry of Justice (Executive branch body responsible for the judicial branch of Israel)

This law-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.