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.
