Courts Law [Consolidated Version], 5744-1984
חוק בתי המשפט [נוסח משולב], תשמ"ד-1984
Published: 1984-08-31Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-09-01 · Last amended 2026-07-29✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-28
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More
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The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.
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Section G: General Provisions
General Power to Grant Relief [b/34]§
75.
Every court hearing a civil matter is competent to give a declaratory judgment, a mandatory order, an injunction, an order for specific performance and any other relief, as it sees fit in the circumstances before it.
Ancillary Jurisdiction [b/35]§
76.
Where a matter has been properly brought before a court and an incidental question arises whose determination is necessary for the resolution of the matter, the court may determine it for the purpose of that matter even if the subject of the question is within the exclusive jurisdiction of another court or another tribunal.
Civil Jurisdiction Ancillary to Criminal Jurisdiction [b/35a]§
77.
(a)Where a person has been convicted in a Magistrate's Court or in a District Court and a civil claim is brought against that person alone in respect of the facts constituting the offence of which the person was convicted, the judge or bench that convicted the person may, after the criminal judgment has become final, hear the civil claim, if the claimant so requests; for this purpose a District Court is competent to hear the claim even if its value falls within the jurisdiction of a Magistrate's Court.
(b)The Minister of Justice shall prescribe by Regulations the rules of procedure for the civil claim, including provisions concerning the time and manner of filing the claim and appellate proceedings.
Grounds for Disqualification§
77a.
(a)A judge shall not sit in judgment if the judge finds, on the judge's own initiative or on the application of a party, that circumstances exist that are likely to give rise to a real apprehension of bias in the conduct of the trial.
(a1)Without derogating from the provisions of subsection (a), a judge shall not sit in judgment if the judge is aware that any of the following applies:
(1)a party to the proceedings, that party's counsel or a key witness is a family member of the judge or there is another real closeness between them;
(2)the judge has a real financial interest or a real personal interest in the proceedings or their outcome, in a party to the proceedings, in that party's counsel or in a key witness, or a first-degree family member of the judge has a real financial interest or a real personal interest in the proceedings or their outcome, in a party to the proceedings or in that party's counsel;
(3)before being appointed as a judge, the judge was involved in the same matter that is being adjudicated in the proceedings before the judge as counsel, arbitrator, mediator, witness, professional adviser, expert or in another similar capacity;
for the purposes of this subsection –
"family member" – a spouse, parent, spouse's parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, and also a child or spouse of any of the foregoing, and including a person who was a guardian of the judge or who served as a foster family of the judge, or of whom the judge was a guardian or for whom the judge served as a foster family;
"first-degree family member" – a spouse, parent, child, sibling, and also a child or spouse of any of the foregoing, and including a person who was a guardian of the judge or who served as a foster family of the judge, or of whom the judge was a guardian or for whom the judge served as a foster family;
"key witness" – a witness whose credibility requires assessment for the purpose of determining the proceedings.
(a2)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (a1), a judge may sit in judgment if, owing to the urgency of the matter, it is not possible to hold the proceedings before another judge and serious harm or a miscarriage of justice is likely to result if the judge does not hear the matter.
(a3)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a1)(2), a judge may sit in judgment if transferring the matter to any other judge would not remove the ground for disqualification.
(b)Where a plea of disqualification is raised against a judge, that judge shall decide it forthwith and before giving any other decision.
(b1)Where a ground for disqualification pursuant to subsection (a1)(1) or (2) has arisen in relation to an advocate or other counsel in whom circumstances exist that require the obtaining of a permit for representation as referred to in section 53b of the Bar Association Law, the court may permit the representation, on the application of the advocate or counsel, if it finds that the harm that would be caused to a party to the proceedings if the representation is not permitted outweighs the harm that would be caused to a party to the proceedings or to the public interest as a result of the adjournment of the proceedings or the replacement of the judge; where the court has permitted the representation as aforesaid, the judge in relation to whom the ground for disqualification arose shall not sit in judgment.
(c)A decision of a judge or a court pursuant to this section shall be reasoned, and a party may appeal against it to the Supreme Court; the appeal shall be heard by the President of the Supreme Court, or by a bench of judges of the Supreme Court, or by a single judge, all as the President shall determine.
Transfer of a Matter to Another Place [b/36]§
78.
(a)The President of the Supreme Court, or another judge of the Supreme Court authorised by the President for that purpose, may direct that a particular proceeding that has been brought or is to be brought before a District Court or a Magistrate's Court in one place shall be heard by a court of the same level in another place; provided that no direction pursuant to this section shall be given after the commencement of the hearing except with the consent of the judge who commenced hearing it.
(b)In making a decision pursuant to subsection (a), the President of the Supreme Court or another judge of the Supreme Court authorised by the President for that purpose, as the case may be, shall take into account the anticipated degree of harm to the parties as a result of the transfer, the distance between the court from which the proceeding was transferred and the court to which it was transferred, and the assurance of the parties' access to the court.
(c)The court to which a matter has been transferred as aforesaid shall not transfer it further.
Transfer of Civil Proceedings and Proceedings for Traffic Offences to Another Place§
78a.
(a)The Administrator of Courts may transfer civil proceedings and proceedings for traffic offences that have been filed with a particular court and in which the hearing has not yet commenced, to another court of the same level, whether within the same judicial district or in an adjacent judicial district, in order to balance the distribution of the caseload among courts, provided that the distance between the courts does not exceed 60 kilometres; a decision of the Administrator of Courts to transfer those proceedings requires authorisation by the President of the Supreme Court approved by the Minister of Justice, and in respect of proceedings for traffic offences – also consultation with the Inspector General of the Police or a person authorised by the Inspector General for that purpose.
(b)The Administrator of Courts shall publish a notice in Reshumot (Official Gazette) and on the website of the Courts Administration concerning the transfer of proceedings as referred to in subsection (a).
(c)
(1)A party who considers himself or herself harmed by a decision of the Administrator of Courts as referred to in subsection (a) may request the Administrator of Courts to reconsider the decision;
(2)In deciding on an application for reconsideration pursuant to paragraph (1), the Administrator of Courts shall take into account the anticipated degree of harm to the parties as a result of the transfer and the assurance of the parties' access to the court;
(3)A decision as referred to in paragraph (2) may be appealed before the President of the Supreme Court or another judge of the Supreme Court authorised by the President for that purpose.
(d)
(1)A file transferred pursuant to sections 49, 78 or 79 shall not be transferred further by the Administrator of Courts;
(2)A file transferred pursuant to this section shall not be transferred further by the Administrator of Courts or by the court to which it was transferred.
(e)In this section, "commencement of the hearing" and "proceedings for traffic offences" – as defined in section 49(d).
Relief for Lack of Jurisdiction [b/37]§
79.
(a)Where a court finds that it cannot hear a matter before it because it does not fall within its local or subject-matter jurisdiction and it falls within the jurisdiction of another court or another tribunal, the court may transfer it to that other court or tribunal, which shall hear it as if it had been originally brought before it, and may hear it from the stage at which the previous court had reached.
(b)The court or tribunal to which a matter has been transferred as aforesaid shall not transfer it further.
Compromise§
79a.
(a)A court hearing a civil matter may, with the consent of the parties, adjudicate the matter before it, in whole or in part, by way of compromise.
(b)Nothing in subsection (a) shall derogate from the power of the court to propose a compromise arrangement to the parties or to give, at the request of the parties, the force of a judgment to a compromise arrangement made between them.
Arbitration§
79b.
(a)A court hearing a civil matter may, with the consent of the parties, refer the matter before it, in whole or in part, to arbitration, and may also, with their consent, define the terms of the arbitration.
(b)The parties, with the approval of the court, shall appoint the arbitrator; if the parties have not reached agreement on the arbitrator, the court may appoint one from a list submitted to it by the parties, or at its discretion – in the absence of such a list.
(c)The provisions of the Arbitration Law, 5728-1968, shall apply to arbitration pursuant to this section.
(d)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (b) and (c), where the conditions for application pursuant to section 3 of the International Commercial Arbitration Law, 5784-2024, are met, the provisions of that Law shall apply to the arbitration.
Mediation§
79c.
(a)In this section –
"mediation" means a proceeding in which a mediator meets with the parties to a dispute in order to bring them to agreement on the resolution of the dispute, without having authority to decide it;
"Singapore Convention" means the Singapore Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, signed on the 6th of Av 5779 (7 August 2019);
"mediation settlement" means an agreement between the parties to a dispute on the resolution of a dispute between them, reached at the conclusion of a mediation proceeding;
"mediator" means a person whose function is to assist the parties to a dispute to reach agreement on the resolution of a dispute between them in a mediation proceeding by means of conducting free negotiations.
(b)The court may, with the consent of the parties, transfer an action to mediation.
(c)In a mediation proceeding, a mediator may meet with the parties, jointly or separately, and with any person connected to the dispute; and the mediator may meet with a party, with that party's consent, without that party's advocate.
(d)Matters communicated in the framework of a mediation proceeding shall not serve as evidence in civil legal proceedings.
(e)Where the court has transferred a matter to mediation, it shall stay the proceedings before it for a period it shall determine, and it may extend that period with the consent of the parties.
(f)If the parties have not reached a mediation settlement by the end of the period referred to in subsection (e), the proceedings in the court shall be resumed; however, the court may, upon the application of the mediator or of a party, resume them at any time before the end of that period.
(g)Where the parties have reached a mediation settlement, the mediator shall notify the court accordingly, and the court shall be entitled to give the settlement the force of a judgment.
(h)Where parties to a dispute have reached agreement on the resolution of a dispute between them in a mediation conducted under this Law, the court competent to hear the action that is the subject of the dispute may give the mediation settlement reached between them the force of a judgment, even if no action has been filed in respect of that dispute.
(i)An application to give the force of a judgment to a mediation settlement to which the Singapore Convention applies, or an application to recognise such a settlement as a defence plea in proceedings before a court, shall be filed and heard in accordance with the provisions of that Convention, provided that the parties to the mediation settlement have agreed to the application of the Convention; an application to give the force of a judgment to such a settlement shall be filed with the court competent to hear the action that is the subject of the settlement.
Regulations regarding arbitration and mediation§
79d.
(a)The Minister of Justice may regulate by Regulations –
(1)procedures for the appointment of an arbitrator or mediator;
(2)procedures and rules in a mediation proceeding and its conduct;
(2a)the qualifications, skills and experience required of a mediator seeking to be included in the list of mediators referred to in paragraph (2b), including education and training in mediation;
(2b)a list of mediators to be made available to the courts, containing details concerning the mediator, including the subjects in which the mediator specialises and an assessment of the mediator's skills;
(3)the maximum fee to be paid to an arbitrator or mediator by the parties;
(4)the imposition of costs in arbitration and conciliation proceedings and the assessment thereof;
(5)fees in respect of registration on the list of mediators and the assessment of skills as referred to in paragraph (2b);
(6)rules of procedure and provisions for the implementation of the Singapore Convention as referred to in section 79c(i).
(b)Regulations under subsection (a)(2a), (3), (5) and (6) require the approval of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset.
Court on which the judges are divided in opinion§
80.
(a)Where a court sits as a bench and the opinions of the judges are divided, the majority opinion shall prevail.
(b)Where there is no majority for one opinion in a civil matter, the opinion of the presiding judge shall prevail.
(c)Where there is no majority for one opinion in a criminal matter –
(1)the court shall examine whether there is a majority of opinions with respect to each factual finding, each element of the offence or other matter requiring a determination for conviction or acquittal, and shall decide accordingly;
(2)where there is no majority opinion as to the type or measure of the punishment, the stricter opinion shall be added to the more lenient opinion closest to it; where the opinions are divided as to the severity of the type or measure of the punishment, the opinion of the presiding judge shall prevail.
Correction of error in judgment [II/37a]§
81.
(a)Where a court finds that an error has occurred in a judgment or in another decision it has given, it may, within twenty-one days from the date of their being given, correct them by a reasoned decision, and it may hear the arguments of the parties in that regard; for this purpose, "error" means a linguistic error, a calculation error, a clerical slip, an accidental omission, an accidental addition or the like.
(b)With the consent of the parties, the court may at any time decide on any correction to a judgment or another decision it has given.
(c)Where a judgment or another decision has been corrected as referred to in subsection (a), the date of the correction decision shall be regarded, for the purpose of appeal, as the date on which the judgment or the other decision was given.
(d)A decision under subsection (a) is not appealable except in an appeal against the judgment or the other decision.
Administrative procedures§
82.
(a)The Minister of Justice shall determine the administrative procedures of the courts, and shall appoint, with the consent of the President of the Supreme Court, the administrator of the courts, whether or not the administrator is a judge.
(b)The administrator of the courts shall be responsible to the Minister for the implementation of the administrative procedures.
Case routing department§
82a.
(a)The Minister of Justice, in consultation with the President of the Supreme Court, shall establish, by Order, case routing departments in the courts (hereinafter – CRD).
(b)The Minister of Justice shall determine –
(1)the qualifications required of CRD employees;
(2)procedural directions that CRD employees are authorised to give;
(3)the rules according to which the CRD shall operate.
Regulations [II/47 in fine]§
83.
(a)The Minister of Justice may regulate by Regulations –
(1)the sitting days and recesses of courts and execution offices, and the handling of matters during recess days;
(2)the publication of judgments of courts;
(3)fees payable in courts and in execution offices and exemptions therefrom;
(4)travel and accommodation expenses and compensation for loss of time of witnesses summoned to testify in courts.
(b)Regulations under subsection (a)(3) require the approval of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset.
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