Family law in Israel is divided into a number of branches. The main matters addressed are marriages and divorces, financial agreements, divorce settlements, wife's maintenance, children's maintenance, custody, visiting rights, adoption, drawing up of wills, deed polls and age declarations as well as claims under the Hague Convention (return of abducted children).
In Israel, marriage and divorce cases are judged according to personal status laws depending on the parties' religious affiliation, i.e. Jews are under the jurisdiction of Rabbinical Courts, Muslims under Shari a Courts, and so forth.
As distinct from the other branches of the law, this area is dealt with by two different tribunals, depending on the issue in question—Family Courts and Ecclesiastical Courts (for Jews, the Rabbinical Courts). Some matters are under the sole authority of the Family Courts, others are handled exclusively by Ecclesiastical Courts, and some are subject to parallel jurisdictions, to be selected by the litigants.
For example, the actual divorce proceedings (issue of a Get—Divorce Certificate) are under the sole jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Court. On the other hand paternity suits, petitions for the return of abducted children, or age declarations are only handled by Family Courts. A court order for preventing family violence may be issued by an Ecclesiastical Court or a Family Court, as well as a Local Court.
Our firm specialises in drawing up agreements between spouses, court representation in divorce proceedings, drawing up wills, actions under the Hague Convention (return of abducted children), etc.
Planning and Development laws fall into a number of categories and sub-categories, the main divisions being as follows:
Local authorities and Local Planning and Development Committees sometimes have to expropriate land for the benefit of the public as part of their duties, such as for road and railway construction, erecting public buildings, laying out parks, water and sewage treatment installations and the like.
The authority to impose compulsory purchase is regulated by various laws, depending on the purpose of the expropriation. Compulsory purchase sometimes takes place subject to payment of compensation to landowners, sometimes a compulsory purchase order will be reversed owing to significant deficiencies in the expropriation process, and it can happen that privately owned land is returned to its owners as a result of the original reason for expropriating the land no longer applying.
There are cases where a landowner becomes entitled to compensation for damage to his property resulting from the approval of an Outline Plan. In such cases, the circle of those eligible for compensation is wider, including the owners of land adjoining the property damaged by the Outline Plan.
Another important area of planning and development is that of building permits. A land owner wishing to build on his property must obtain a permit for this purpose. The reason is obvious, as uncontrolled building will harm other people's interests as well as those of the general public.
The law requires a permit for building or demolishing a structure as well as adding an extension (but not for making internal changes). The definition of "structure" is neither straightforward nor clear, and rulings have defined several different types of building as requiring a permit.
Under the Planning and Development Laws a person working on or using land without a permit when such is required is guilty of a crime punishable by a jail sentence, a fine and other sanctions such as demolition, doubling of fees or values assessments etc.
The law empowers the Local Planning and Development Committees to charge various fees and impose various levies. Examples are Betterment Levy to pay for development and land purchase for public use, parking levy to finance the construction of public car parks, and building permit fees.
In recent years environmental protection has become a hot item, especially the issue of cellular aerial installation in populated areas. Among other things, the approval of the Ministry of the Environment Radiation Supervisor is required for erecting a cellular aerial. Moreover, under a court ruling a cellular aerial may only be set up in full coordination with the local authority.
Our firm acts for property owners with the various authorities to obtain compensation for land appropriations or building permits. We also represent defendants in court cases brought under the Development and Planning Law.
Local authorities impose compulsory payments under several different names: fees, levies, rates, poll tax etc. Rulings vary as to whether or not rates are a form of taxation, and different opinions have been expressed on the subject over the years.
A local authority presently has two options for collecting rate arrears: The first is by seizing and selling movable property owned by the defaulter and administrative confiscation, and the second is by suing the defaulter.
Rates are sometimes overcharged, in which case a refund needs to be claimed. One example is the rule that the municipality is required to refund excess rates paid under protest; on the other hand, if the excess rates are due to an error in determining the size of the property, a refund cannot be demanded.
Under the rates regulations, rates are imposed on six classes of property holders: the occupant and actual user of a property, an occupant not using the property, an ex-occupant of the property who has not yet notified the local authority of his change of status, a tenant renting the property for less than a year, a hotel resident, and a tenant to whom the property is sub-let.
Rates are assessed in accordance with the type of property: building, agricultural land, occupied land, and so forth. The law also lays down classes of land to which rates cannot be applied.
Applications may be made for exemption from rates or discounts on various grounds such as a demolished or damaged building, religious, charitable or educational institutions, disabled servicemen and policemen, the handicapped, pensioners, new immigrants, persons subsisting on a low income, single parents, etc.
A discount may also be requested for owners of a new or vacant building, and also for an industrial building or one housing small businesses.
Our firm represents ratepayers in dealings with local authorities as well as appeal committees. Disputes over rates may occasionally be brought before the courts.
There are several types of land rights—ownership, tenancy, easements, mortgages, right of first offer etc.
Land ownership is the right to occupy a plot of land, make use of it and carry out any action or transaction subject to limitations under the law or some agreement.
In principle, land ownership rights extend below the ground to any depth, subject to laws restricting these rights (regarding water, petroleum, antiquities etc.) Ownership also extends to the space above the ground (but does not interfere with the passage of aircraft).
Ownership applies to what is constructed or planted on the land, and anything permanently attached to it.
If the land belongs to a number of partners, each partner's ownership applies jointly to every single millimetre, and none of them has a title to any particular parcel of land (Musha land).
In cases of jointly owned land a partnership agreement governing the management and use of the land may be drawn up and recorded at the Land Registry, following which it is also binding on partners joining later.
Other land rights are easements—granting a person, the public, or the users of other land the right to benefit from the land without any title to it (e.g. right of way). An easement is created by agreement or on the basis of 30 years' use without the landowner objecting, and may be recorded at the Land Registry.
Right of first offer (ROFO)—a right that may be recorded at the Land Registry, to ensure that the landowner does not transfer the property to a third party before offering it first to the ROFO holder.
Mortgage—transfer of interest in a property, that may be recorded at the Land Registry; pledging of immovable property to secure a debt.
Mortgages of various priorities may be registered, so that the first mortgage holder is the first to recover his debt on disposal of the property, followed by those holding lower priority mortgages.
Tenancy is the right to occupy and use land for a consideration, not in perpetuity. A tenancy for a period exceeding five years is called a lease, and for over 25 years—a long term lease.
Protected tenancy: Protected occupancy originated in what is now Israel during the British Mandate period, when waves of newcomers strained the economy and precipitated a housing shortage; its purpose was to prevent landlords from evicting residential and business tenants who were meeting the terms of the tenancy agreement. The Mandatory ordinances remained in force when the State was established, and further legislation and regulations were added. In 1972 the Mandatory ordinances were combined with the laws and regulation to create a consolidated version establishing the rights of the protected tenant.
Authorised Person : If the holder of an interest in a property gives another party permission to benefit from or make use of the land, whether or not for a consideration, the party receiving the permission is described as an Authorised Person.
This type of arrangement is common in the agricultural sector, in moshavim (cooperative settlements) where the cooperative society leases the land and grants members of the society Authorised Persons' rights over their individual allotments.
A building containing two or more flats, each of which can be identified as a complete and self-contained unit to be used for housing, commerce or any other purpose, may be included in the condominium register.
The advantage of registering a property as a condominium is the dissolution or at least drastic diminution of the partnership in the land, such that each owner has title to a separate flat; if a separate flat cannot be allocated to each owner, some of the flats may be registered as Musha property.
A flat in a condominium is a separately registered entity. As regards the common property, an undetermined part of it is attached to each flat, in proportion to the ratio of the flat's floor area to the total area of all the flats making up the condominium, unless otherwise specified in the Declaration of Condominium.
The common property includes roofs, external areas, exterior walls, the foundations, stairwells, lifts, shelters, and heating and hot water installations serving all or most of the flat owners. Part of the external area or roof may be attached to a particular flat, in which case the attached part does not count as part of the common property, but belongs to the owner of the flat to which it is attached.
A part attached to a particular flat may be transferred to another flat in the condomium even without the consent of the other flat owners, provided the condomium registration is duly amended as required by law.
A condominium is managed under a Declaration of Condominium determining the relationship between the flat owners. A standard Declaration of Condominium is included in the Land Law, and this is binding unless a so-called Agreed Declaration of Condominium is registered.
Each condomium is managed by a representative committee that is required to act in keeping with the Declaration of Condominium.
Among other things, the civil execution system serves as the executive arm of the courts system, its purpose being to enforce the rulings of any judicial tribunal whether by collection of monies or by taking other action as prescribed in the judgement.
In addition, legally valid documents that are not court rulings may be enforced, such as pledges, mortgages, promissory notes and cheques.
A particularly significant amendment to the law is that of Paragraph 24 of the Civil Execution Law, enabling certain types of claims (such as those arising from breach of contract) up to an amount of NIS 50,000 to be submitted directly to the Enforcement Bureau.
When the Civil Execution agency has to enforce an obligation, the creditor has priority, but this does not imply that the economic circumstances of the debtor are completely ignored.
A number of officials are employed at the Enforcement Bureau, the most senior of whom is the Enforcement Officer, who also serves as a Magistrate or Registrar of a Local Court. In his role as Enforcement Officer, the law invests him with a number of judicial and administrative prerogatives.
One of the Enforcement Officer's main powers is to consider a protest of non-liability. This is when the debtor claims to have complied with the judgement (e.g. paid his debt to the creditor) or to be no longer bound by it (e.g. due to its loss of validity under the statute of limitations).
When a legal document such as a cheque is in question, if the debtor denies his obligation to pay the amount specified in the document (e.g. having failed to receive the product or service paid for on issue of the document), he is required to lodge an appeal against enforcement of the document, setting out his assertions in detail.
Our firm acts for both creditors and debtors at the Enforcement Bureau. When representing creditors we specialise in receivership, attachment of movable and immovable property, mortgage and pledge foreclosures etc.
When representing debtors we specialise in negotiations with creditors, appeal case management, drawing up of debt accommodation proposals, bankruptcy petitions and representation of debtors with limited means.
Intellectual Property Laws in Israel may be broadly divided into two main categories: Industrial, and what may be described as Artistic, Intellectual Property.
Industrial Intellectual Property is in fact that legal right or protection afforded to various goods general manufactured by an industrial process, i.e. automatic mass production.
This category covers patents, designs and trademarks. The rights in question may be registered with the Patent Office.
A patent refers to legal protection of a product's functionality—its essence rather than its form, colour etc., i.e. protection of a practical solution to a technological problem.
A design, however, refers to the outward form of a product, irrespective of its functionality. There are however products eligible for both patent and design registration, having functional as well as design elements for which protection is desired.
A trademark is a means for protecting a manufacturer's reputation. All merchandise is marketed under a company's or factory's name, logo, image etc. by which the manufacturer is recognised. The purpose of trademark protection is to prevent attempts to profit from a manufacturer's reputation by copying his trademark.
So-called Artistic Intellectual Property principally covers creators' copyrights—i.e. legal protection against infraction of copyrights over works of art in forms such as literature, music, cinema, architecture, sculpture, painting etc.
Although computer software can hardly be regarded as a work of art, the law nevertheless includes it in this category as well (applying to Israeli Law only, as the type of protection extended to computer software varies from country to country, some providing for patenting of computer software).
Our firm specialises in representation at the Patent Office in various processes conducted under its jurisdiction (registration applications, appeals, deletion and cancellation requests and the like) and also infraction claims and other court actions.
Tort is divided into two main areas — personal injury and damage to property. Personal injuries may be caused deliberately or by various types of accidents, disease etc., although legally personal injury may be divided into two categories: personal injury resulting from road accidents, and other personal injuries.
A person may suffer harm to his body, mind, or intellectual capacity. In addition to compensation for physical/mental injuries incurred, recompense for loss of future earnings, pain and suffering may also be claimed.
The amount of compensation claimed depends on many factors. Among other things taken into account are the level of disability, the nature of the injury, earning capacity, income level before the injury, cost of treatment, the victim's conduct etc.
Road accidents constitute a field of expertise within Tort Law in their own right. A person incurring bodily injury in a road accident (as distinct from the owner of a vehicle damaged in the accident) is entitled to make a claim under the Road Accident Victims Compensation Law, 5735-1975 and only under this law.
The law prescribes a number of measures totally absent from other tort cases. For example, the law sets a ceiling for various aspects of the injury such as loss of earning capacity, shortened life expectancy, pain and suffering. The manner in which the case is conducted and the arrangements for paying compensation make for a speedy conclusion of the process, relative to tort suits unconnected with road accidents.
Another interesting approach to personal injury victims may be seen in the Defective Products (Liability) Law, 5740-1979: Any person incurring personal injury such as death, disease, bodily, mental or intellectual harm or incapacity due to a defective product may sue the manufacturer and/or importer and/or supplier under this law. It is worthy of note that warranties may not be appealed to under this law.
In addition to personal injury, there is damage to property. The most common types of property damage are vehicle crash damage and losses caused by theft. Claims for property damages are determined in most cases under the Civil Wrongs definition in the Tort Ordinance (New Version).
Our firm represents road accident victims and vehicle damage claimants against insurance companies, work accident victims, and claimants against various government authorities, in particular over claims for injury compensation against the National Insurance Institute and the like.
Three main areas comprise Criminal Law: the Penal Code, Criminal Proceedings, and Rules of Evidence. These regulations accompany the suspect, and if charged the accused, until judgement is pronounced.
The main rules of the Penal Code effectively comprise a statement of unacceptable behaviour as dictated by the country's social conventions. Classical Criminal Law provisions (theft, murder) are covered by the Penal Code, however some illegal acts also feature in other laws, such as traffic offences, tax crimes, military crimes and the like.
As a rule, a crime consists of an illegal act (the factual basis) combined with the perpetrator's state of mind when committing the act (mental basis). Thus, for example, if a person commits an illegal act without criminal intent, he cannot be convicted of a crime.
In some cases the factual and mental bases must also be accompanied by some circumstantial or consequential element to enable conviction for a given offence.
The Criminal Proceedings rules govern the manner in which judicial proceedings are conducted against a person charged with committing crimes under the relevant section of the law, and were in fact drawn up for the purpose of applying the Penal Code in a suitable fashion.
The Rules of Evidence apply jointly to Criminal and Civil Law, relating to the submissibility, weight, and sufficiency of evidence.
This area addresses the manner in which the defendant's guilt or innocence may be established, and provides criteria for determining whether or not a particular piece of evidence is valid, whether or not it is conclusive, etc.
The law and precedent also lay down the rights of a suspect under police interrogation, and those of a defendant in court.
Traffic Laws are one of the branches of Criminal Law: Due to the importance of Traffic Laws, their impact on the entire population, and the high incidence of traffic violations, the legislator has decided to set up a separate system of courts devoted exclusively to traffic cases, with its own rules of procedure, in order to create a high standard of professional expertise in this field.
Another branch of Criminal Law is that concerned with planning and development—see further details under the Planning and Development Laws heading.
Our firm specialises in representing suspects starting from the police interrogation stage through to representing defendants in courts at all levels.
When a property transaction takes place, a number of different taxes apply.
When land is sold, the capital gain accrued known as Betterment is taxed under the Land Taxation Law (Betterment, Sale and Purchase) of 1963.
There is a mutual relationship between the Land Taxation Law and the Income Tax Ordinance: Betterment Tax is an advance payment on account of Income Tax, and Betterment is part of taxable income for the purpose of determining tax rates and credits.
Income tax is payable on a property transaction carried out to realise an investment, such as the sale of a block of flats by a developer, as well as a commercial venture.
Betterment Tax is payable on sale of an interest in a property. Under the law an "interest" has a broad definition and refers to ownership, a lease in excess of 25 years, an easement, right of first refusal, protected tenancy, granting of an option, compulsory purchase, sale with a pending warranty, barter deal, property association action etc.
The Land Taxation Law provides for tax exemption for certain types of sales such as an individual selling a single dwelling unit once in 18 months, or an individual selling a dwelling unit once in 4 years; the exemption is conditional on the vendor applying for it and selling his entire title to the dwelling.
Exemption is also granted when an individual transfers a dwelling to a relative (as defined by law), or sells a dwelling inherited from the owner of a single dwelling who would have been exempt had he still been alive and sold it at that time, provided the inheritor is a descendant or the widow/er of the deceased.
Exemption from Betterment Tax is also granted when two dwellings are exchanged for a third one, the second dwelling being sold within 12 months of the first and the value of the two dwellings sold not exceeding a certain sum laid down by law.
Purchase tax is payable on acquisition of an interest in a property. This is a progressive tax based on different tax brackets applied to the purchase of a single dwelling, an additional dwelling, or other property.
For a gift transaction between relatives without consideration, a third of the normal purchase tax is payable.
When determining Betterment certain expenses are deductable, such as those incurred in order to increase the value of the property, purchase tax paid on acquiring the property, brokers' fees, lawyers' fees, property tax paid in the past, Betterment levies etc.
When paying Betterment taxes on a property used to generate income, depreciation is also deducted.
Local authorities impose Betterment levies on property sales in respect of the appreciation in the land value resulting from zoning changes enabling the built-up area to be increased or altering the designation.
The Israel Land Administration charges a capitalisation fee on transactions affecting its property, comprising the capitalised value of the balance of future ground rent due, thus exempting the lessee from payment of an assumption fee. Capitalisation is a financial process and does not constitute transfer of the title to the property.
If the capitalisation is not applied when the property is sold, the Land Administration charges an assumption fee equal to one third of the value of the land.
For additional benefits beyond what is covered in the leasing agreement the Land Administration charges a permit fee, payable in cases of extensions added to existing structures, rezoning, and partition of a lot.
The permit fee is waived when the indoor floor area of the structure and extension does not exceed 160 sq. m.
The tax burden involved in property transactions is liable to reach half of the value of the property if not more.
There are a number of ways of reducing tax expenses in property transactions, the saving possibly applying to one or more of the taxes or compulsory payments associated with the transaction. Tax planning is also designed to save taxes or avoid tax liability in future transactions subsequent to the purchase.
The many provisions of the law prescribing the various taxes applying to property transactions appear in a large number of laws and regulations. The actual provisions of the law are worded in a legal style often making interpretation difficult. For carrying out tax planning familiarity is also needed with court rulings interpreting these provisions.
The taxpayer has to plan his moves in such a way as to save tax payments, but on the other hand to avoid being drawn into aggressive tax planning giving the transaction an over-legalistic appearance misrepresenting the economic content of the transaction, just for the sake of evading tax—such a deal will be disqualified by the tax authorities and taxes at the legally set rates will be charged.
Our firm employs lawyers with many years' experience in carrying out all types of property transactions and represents a large number of developers and purchasers.
The firm represents employees and employers in Labour Law cases. An employee's rights may be divided into two categories as follows:
The first category relates to an employee's rights under his employment contract. For this purpose an initial check has to be made as to whether or not the person has
the status of "employee" as defined by law and precedent. For this one needs to determine whether he is a temporary employee, an employee taken on for a fixed term,
an outside contractor, a manpower agency employee, a free lancer, or the like.
Having established the basis of the engagement, the employee's rights under his terms of employment, and whether they have been granted to him, are checked. This
includes basic pay, overtime, annual leave, unpaid leave, Sabbatical leave, travel expenses, sick pay, convalescence pay, pension fund, study fund, wage delay etc.
During his employment other issues may arise such as an appeal against an appointment by competition, the effect of a change of management on employment
contracts, "habit" as a basis for terms of an employment contract, interpretation and supplementation of an employment contract, workplace management prerogatives
etc.
The second category relates to an employee's rights during and following termination of the employer-employee relationship. In such cases the circumstances of such
termination are examined, and the first question asked is why this occurred.
Was employment terminated on the employee's or the employer's initiative? What is the significance of this distinction, and what difference does it make to the
employee's and the employer's rights and obligations?
This is where such issues as dismissal vs. resignation, the right to receive advance notice, significant worsening of employment conditions, severance pay,
dismissal/resignation due to old age, maternity, reserve duty, state of health, change of place of residence and the like are looked into.
It is worth bearing in mind that employment issues cannot always be resolved at the Employment Tribunal, especially when the employee and employer have common
interests. Our firm represents employees and employers in work disputes, and even holds mediation sessions to seek a solution to the satisfaction of the parties.
Certain types of actions against government institutions may only be taken through special courts assigned for this purpose.
The common denominator of these lawsuits is that they challenge governmental or institutional decisions in court with the aim of having such decisions reversed or modified.
Ordinary monetary, contractual or tort claims against government institutions are not dealt with in this context, but have to be lodged with the usual courts (local or district) like
other claims of this type.
The tribunal best known for this type of action is the High Court, which used to sit in judgement over all petitions against government bodies. Nowadays, due to the heavy work load,
the High Court deals mainly with human rights issues, and a so-called Court for Administrative Affairs was set up separately to specialise in various types of petitions and appeals
against the authorities.
The Court for Administrative Affairs is in fact a District Court sitting as a Court for Administrative Affairs handling various matters falling within the jurisdiction of the particular
authority that has made the decision being contested.
The Court for Administrative Affairs is authorised to consider petitions against local authority decisions on rates, education and the like, planning and development, public tendering
processes, permits, licensing etc.
Appeals can also be lodged against Appeals Committee decisions in a variety of areas such as local authority rates, the environment and driving licences.
Although monetary actions cannot as a rule be brought before the Court for Administrative Affairs, a small number of monetary claims (known as Administrative Actions) may be
lodged, such as claims for compensation over a public tendering process and class actions against the authority in question.
Our firm represents plaintiffs and defendants in all areas of Administrative Law. These include cases concerning local rates, planning and development, licensing, and public tendering
processes.
Civil law differs from criminal law and is characterised in two main areas: the lodging of various types of claims (financial, injunctions, etc.) and the securing of rights (land registration, patents, age declarations etc.)
Civil law is usually divided into so-called private and commercial law. Private civil law is mainly concerned with contract and tort claims between individuals, while commercial law mainly governs claims against banks, dealings with cheques and various corporate matters.
The practice of civil law (but also criminal law, of course) entails attention to the proverbial smaller details, "where God is to be discovered", for it is just those fine points that can make all the difference between losing and winning a case.
Our firm represents plaintiffs and defendants in the various areas of civil law as well as specialising in the registration of all manner of rights and entitlements with the various authorities.