Israel

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General Context

Israel is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest. Also adjacent are the West Bank to the east and Gaza Strip to the southwest. Israel is the world's only predominantly Jewish state with a population of about 7.37 million people, of which approximately 5.57 million belong to the majority Jewish ethno religious group. The largest ethnic minority group is the segment denominated as Arab citizens of Israel, while minority religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Druze and others, most of which are found within the Arab segment.

In terms of nominal gross domestic product, the nation's economy is estimated as being the 44th-largest in the world. Israel ranks highest among Middle Eastern countries on the bases of human development, freedom of the press, and economic competitiveness. Jerusalem is the country's capital, seat of government, and largest city, while Israel's main financial center is Tel Aviv.

Political Structure

Israel operates under a parliamentary system as a democratic country with universal suffrage. The President of Israel is the head of state, but his duties are largely ceremonial. A Parliament Member supported by a majority in parliament becomes the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the head of government and head of the Cabinet. Israel is governed by a 120-member parliament, known as the Knesset. Parliamentary elections are scheduled every four years, but unstable coalitions or a no-confidence vote by the Knesset often dissolves governments earlier. The Basic Laws of Israel function as an unwritten partial constitution.

Membership of relevant supra national organisations: International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), OECD (accession state), Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), UN, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), WHO.

Legal System

Israel has a three-tier court system. At the lowest level are magistrate courts, situated in most cities across the country. Above them are six district courts, serving both as appellate courts and courts of first instance. The third and highest tier in Israel is the Supreme Court, seated in Jerusalem. It serves a dual role as the highest court of appeals and the High Court of Justice. In the latter role, the Supreme Court rules as a court of first instance, allowing individuals, both citizens and non-citizens, to petition against decisions of state authorities.

Israel's legal system combines English common law, Israeli law, and Jewish law. The conduct of the courts and the principles of civil procedure and evidence follow to a large extent the Anglo- American tradition. It is based on the principle of stare decisis (precedent) and is an adversarial system, where the parties in the suit bring evidence before the court. At the same time, the ongoing codification process of the civil substantive law in Israel is essentially a continental law codification, influenced by continental law ideas, such as the doctrine of good faith [1]. Marriage and divorce are under the jurisdiction of parallel civil and religious courts: Jewish, Muslim, Druze, and Christian.

Regulation of Alternative Dispute Resolution

In Israel, the two most predominant forms of ADR are arbitration and mediation.

Arbitration

Arbitration is Israel is governed by the Israeli Arbitration Act, 5728-1968 (the 'Arbitration Act') and the Arbitration Procedure Regulations, 5729-1968. Article 21 of the Arbitration Act provides that the judgment of an arbitrator is binding upon the parties. In addition, pursuant to the Courts Act (Consolidated Version), 5744-1984 article 23(a), the Court may choose to approve the judgment of the arbitrator, in which case the judgment will be considered for all purposes as a judgment of the Court. However, the Court may, upon the request of a party, choose to nullify, complete or correct the judgment of an arbitrator, or return it to the arbitrator, in the event that the judgment is legally deficient, as defined in article 24 of the Act [2].

Mediation

Mediation is governed by the Court Regulations (Mediation), 5753-1993.

The Civil Law Procedure Regulations, 5744-1984 include a provision obligating the parties to a court action to attend a preliminary session with a mediator prior to the first hearing in the case. The purpose of such session is to explore the option of using mediation as a means to resolve the conflict. The parties, however, are not obligated to agree to resolve the conflict through mediation. [3]

Practice of Alternative Dispute Resolution

In order to reduce the heavy workload on the courts, judges are proactive in attempting to convince litigants to explore possibilities of ADR. Judges spend time and exert efforts to obtain the consent of litigants to refer disputes to arbitration or mediation. As the courts’ workload is constantly increasing, this trend is expected to continue and even intensify over the next few years [4].

Mediation

[5] In 1992, Amendment No. 15 of the Courts Act (Consolidated Version), 1984 was enacted. The Amendment provides that a court judging a civil matter may, with the agreement of the parties, refer the matter to arbitration or to mediation or may judge by means of a compromise. It was via this Amendment that the mediation process first entered the gates of the courts in Israel. However, until the end of the 1990s mediation remained mainly in the law books. In recent years the field of mediation and conflict resolution has began to gain momentum both within the courts and outside of them.

Within the courts, case management pilot programs were developed, following which Case Management Departments (Manat) were established. The Manat was intended to improve the efficiency of the courts by dealing with cases at an early stage, before they reached the judge, referring some of the cases directly to mediation. Further, in many of the courts the function of the case management judge was established, who held a preliminary session with the parties in which he reviewed the possibility of resolving the conflict by means of agreement and considered whether mediation was appropriate. In addition, in 1998 the Advisory Committee for Mediation in the Courts published a report relating to the abilities and experience required of a mediator in order to be included in the court’s roster of mediators, and its recommendations have been enacted as Regulations.

In 1998 the National Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution was established within the Ministry of Justice. The Center works towards developing the knowledge in the field of mediation and conflict resolution, initiating and developing programs for training mediators, including the practical training course in mediation (Practicum), and integrating mediation in private and public bodies.

The Mediation Process is gaining momentum in recent years in Israel, in particular in the small claims courts and in the labor courts, as well as lately also in criminal courts.

The Ombudsman

In 1971 the Knesset decided to establish the Office of the Ombudsman and empowered the State Comptroller with the additional function of Ombudsman. In this capacity, the Ombudsman serves as an address to any person who wishes to submit a complaint against a state or public body subject to state audit.

Any person may submit a complaint to the Ombudsman. The complaint must be signed by the complainant, indicating his name and address. Complaints may also be submitted orally at any one of the municipal offices of the Ombudsman, which are located in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Be'er Sheva and Nazareth. The subject of a complaint must be an act that is directly injurious to or directly withholds a benefit from the complainant.

The subject matter of complaints that can be submitted cover a broad range of areas. A complaint can be submitted concerning any action taken contrary to law, without lawful authority, contrary to sound administration or that involves too inflexible an attitude or a flagrant injustice. An "action" can be also be defined, for the purposes of submitting a complaint, as an omission or a delay in acting. According to the Law, complaints may be submitted only against the bodies subject to the audit of the State Comptroller, and as mentioned, there is a wide range of such bodies. The Law also indicates complaints that are not to be investigated, for example, complaints against the President of the State, the Knesset or the Government. Also not investigated are complaints on matters pending in the courts, or in which a court has given a decision with regard to their substance. A complaint against a judicial act of a court or a judge will also not be investigated. In addition, complaints relating to service arrangements and terms of service or discipline of military personnel on active service or in the reserves, police and prison officers, will not be investigated. The Ombudsman will also not investigate a complaint submitted after a year has elapsed from the date of the act to which it relates, unless he finds a special reason justifying the investigation. Upon the completion of the investigation, the Ombudsman will inform the complainant and the person or body complained against, stating his reasons for finding the complaint justified or for discontinuing the investigation; he may also point out the need to correct a deficiency revealed by the investigation and how and by what date it is to be rectified.

The decisions and findings of the Ombudsman concerning any given complaint do not grant to the complainant or any other person any right or relief in any court which they did not previously have, and do not prevent them from exercising any right or applying for any relief to which they are entitled. It is also not possible to appeal to any court or petition the High Court of Justice for relief against the decisions or findings of the Ombudsman in the matter of a complaint.

Since the Ombudsman is only in charge for complaints against public bodies he is not the right address for complaints of external stakeholders against private companies.

Environment

Israel's environmental legislation is wide ranging. It covers the entire expanse of environmental issues, uses all forms of legislative instruments - laws, regulations, administrative orders, permits and bylaws - and is linked to international environmental law.

The country's environmental legislation encompasses laws for the protection of nature and natural resources (air, water and sea), for the abatement and prevention of environmental nuisances (prevention of air, noise, water and marine pollution), and for the safe treatment of contaminants and pollutants (hazardous substances, radiation and solid and liquid waste).

Alongside laws and regulations dealing with specific environmental issues, Israel's legislation includes comprehensive laws, such as the Planning and Building Law and the Licensing of Businesses Law, which provide a framework for controlling the use of resources and promoting sustainable development.

To the central laws belong, for example, the Abatement of Nuisances Law, the Clean Air Law, the Hazardous Substances Law and the Water Law.

Community Advisory Panels

Due to common initiative both of the Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Society (within the Manufacturers' Association of Israel) and the NGO "Sustainable Development for the Negev", it was decided to establish Community Advisory Panels (CAP) between the major chemical producers that have an impact on the environment, and various stakeholders. The majority of the chemical industry in Israel, including Ramat Hovav industrial zone (main chemical industry cluster) is located in the Negev desert region. By now there are nine CAP in different stages of activity in the Negev desert region.

The first Israeli CAP was initiated in the Bromine Compounds plant in Ramat Hovav – one of the world's largest manufacturers of bromine-based performance chemicals and a subsidiary of Israel Chemicals Ltd.

The Bromine Compounds CAP is operative since 2003. Among CAP members are plant the manager, the Responsible Care coordinator, a representative of the Society for the Protection of Nature and of neighbouring communities, and observers from both the Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Society and the Sustainable Development for the Negev. The CAP employs an independent facilitator and it meets regularly every two months. The main activities were the formation of CAP's charter and by-laws, plant tour, discussions on issues as company's dealing with air pollution, effluents, preparedness for hazardous materials incidents, and company image in the view of the nearby residents and the general public [6]. See details in CAP (Community Advisory Panel)/ Forum for environmental responsibility, Grievance Mechanism, Negev.

The Social and Environmental Regulation of Business

Human Rights and Business

Governmental

Israel has an extensive regulatory framework which deals with the protection of employees and workers.

A list with links to the most important labour laws (dated the year 2000) can be found on the website of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour

Information for foreign workers and their employers can also be found on the website of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour

Business-to-Society

Dialogue between a company and its external stakeholders is not usually regulated by any specific law in Israel. The onus to encourage and implement regular dialogue with the stakeholders to garner their views on the operation and running of the company, as well as any other grievance they might have, lies on the company itself.

Non-Governmental

Hahistadrut Hahadasha (or 'Histadrut') is the trade union congress in Israel. In case of disputes the Histadrut provides for a mediation mechanism that involves the employee, the employer and a representative of the Histadrut.

Maala–Business for Social Responsibility [7]. Founded in 1998, Maala is a non-profit membership organization whose creation was inspired by the US-based Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and a growing network of leading corporate citizenship organizations around the world, with which it is affiliated. Maala serves as an advocate, consultant, educator and facilitator, encouraging corporations to identify opportunities for community involvement, promoting environmentally sound practices, social accountability and reporting.
The Maala Index enables investors to invest in a group of leading companies selected not only due to their excellent financial performance but also according to their management and performance of their impact on the Environment, their employees, the community and their ethical performance. It gives crucial information to investors, consumers, employees, suppliers etc.
The Index also enables those companies that participate and others to review their performance as a benchmark to their sector colleagues as well as introduce management tools and processes that will enable them perform better in the future.

Fair trade and fair commercial treatment between companies and clients/consumers

Several Israeli laws provide for the protection of consumers, such asthe Law on the Control of Prices of Consumer Goods and Services (1957), the Consumer Protection Law (1981) and the Antitrust Law (1988).

Consumers

Consumers can address their complaints on products/services to The Israel Consumer Council ('Moatza Israelit leTzarchanut').

It was established by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in coordination with the Standards Institute and is budgeted by the Ministry. The Council is a government corporation and the Prime Minister and the Minister of Industry and Trade appoint its Board of Directors. The Council's Board of Directors is composed of representatives from the Ministry and the public.

Relevant Mechanisms

Relevant Websites

Keywords

Author

Original Author(s) The Levinson Environmental Law Firm

References

  1. ↑ Dr. Israel (Reli) Leshem & Ron Peleg, Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein cited in The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Litigation and Dispute Resiolution 2009
  2. ↑ Dr. Israel (Reli) Leshem & Ron Peleg, Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein cited in The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Litigation and Dispute Resiolution 2009
  3. ↑ Dr. Israel (Reli) Leshem & Ron Peleg, Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein cited in The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Litigation and Dispute Resiolution 2009
  4. ↑ Dr. Israel (Reli) Leshem & Ron Peleg, Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein cited in The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Litigation and Dispute Resiolution 2009
  5. ↑ The paragraph is a quotation of the website of the The National Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution
  6. ↑ From Sustainable Development for the Negev
  7. ↑ The information on Maala was taken from its website


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Contributor(s): This article was modified by Admin (8), 87.85.82.18 (7), Kyle (5), International Bar Association (3), and Nicolaclayre (2).