Other Topics - The Bailiff's - Introduction

Question:

How are court decisions and judgments in family law enforced?

Answer:

This depends on the kind of decision or judgment it is.

In general the Bailiff’s Act of 1967 is designed to enable parties to realize rights given to them in court judgments or bills of exchange /deed including mortgage deeds. In terms of family law it is frequently used to enforce maintenance decisions or costs orders. While the Bailiff's Office is the enforcement part of the court system, three types of family law proceedings cannot be dealt with by it – those related balancing of spouses’ property, division of spouses’ property and matters of a minor, including property.The Family Courts' Act of 1995 explicitly removes them fro the jurisdiction of the Bailiff's Offie.

Certain family law decisions and judgments which cannot be enforced at the Bailiff's can be dealt with by a Contempt of Court Order which is designed to fill in the legal vacuum.

In certain areas e.g. divorce there is special legislation in the form of various restrictive orders that can be imposed against a spouse who defies a rabbinical order obliging him/her to divorce.

Question:

Does a judgment have a 'shelf-life' after which it cannot be enforced ?

Answer:

In principle someone who has a judgment in his favour has 25 years in which to actualise it. Under the 1958 Statute of Limitations a person against whom a judgment has been made can claim in his defence that it is out of date if 25 years have passed without the other side taking ‘acts of any kind to enforce it’. The Supreme Court held in March 2002 that a range of acts, and not just opening a file at the Bailiff's, can 'stop the clock', and be regarded as acts to enforce a judgment – including engaging in negotiations about enforcing the jdument.

As a rule the heirs or ‘substitutes’ of someone who died are entitled to actualise the deceased’s rights and can act to enforce a judgment in his favour.

Question:

How  much interest and linkage is due on  sums which remain unpaid fter the judgment or deadline for payment ?

Answer:

Generally, according to t he Bailiff's Law sums which remain unpaid after judgment has been given, or the deadline set for payment has passed, will be subject to 5% annual interest and linkage differential. The person due to pay the sum can make an application for a reduction in this rate within 20 days of receiving the warning from the Bailiff's Office. Both the court and the Chief Bailiff are entitled to reduce the amount set, regarding the period beteen the payment date and actual payment, for specially recorded reasons, providing the reduced rate is no less than the original.

However, in certain circumstances the above will not apply e.g. where the sides reached an agreement about interest and late payment or where specific instructions exist about linkage in legislation.

Question:

Can the Chief Bailiff set interest or linkage on sums he himself sets ?

Answer:

Yes. Where the Chief Bailiff exercises his powers to set sums due to be paid eg for damages against a trustee or property receiver etc he is also able to set interest and linkage.

Question:

What should happen after a wife has brought action at the bailiff's to enforce a judgment made by the family court against her husband to pay her money that he refuses to ?

Answer:

Once a file has been opened to enforce a judgment against a ‘debtor’ he will be served with a warning telling him to do one of the following within 20 days:

a)obey the judgment

b)pay the debt according to the general instructions regarding instalments under the Bailiff’s Act

c)pay the debt according to the instalments set by the Chief Bailiff, at the other party’s request

d)request an order to pay in instalments

e)attend an investigation of his ability to pay the debt at the bailiff’s office within 21 days , or within the date set in the warning notice, and to supply documents requested.

If the debtor does not respond in one of these ways he will be regarded as having the ability to pay, and various actions can be taken against him to enforce the judgment.

Question:

When action is taken at the Bailiff's Office against a family man because of debts following the failure of his business, can the Bailiffs just take away anything, or are there some restrictions ?

Answer:

The Bailiff’s Act of 1967 does protect the family to some extent by stating that certain items cannot be ‘frozen’ by an order of the Chief Bailiff and taken away by the bailiffs and even sold later. The following items are protected:

a)Food supplies that the debtor and his family who live with him need for a period of up to 30 days.

b)Religious artefacts/Judaica needed by the debtor and his family ( eg prayer books, candlesticks, Menorah )

c)Tools, machinery and animals without which the debtor cannot carry on his profession/occupation/livelihood/work from which he supports his family.This is providing the tools are not valued at over 200 shekels and the machinery at over 500 shekels and that the debtor operates it by himself, or with the help of up to two workers. If the debt is to cover the purchase of the items asked to be ‘frozen’ then the exemption will not apply.

d)Tools, appliances , machines, other items and animals necessary for the personal use of the debtor because of his disability eg guide dog , wheel chair or car adapted for disabled person. The exemption will not apply if the ‘freezing’ order is for the very item for which the debt exists eg where the debtor is disabled and has defaulted on the repayment of a loan on a specially adapted car for the disabled.

e) Pets kept in the debtor’s home or yard which are not for commercial purposes.

Question:

Where can a wife open a file to enforce a judgment for maintenance for their mutual son if she has moved from one part of the country to another since it was originally given ?

Answer:

According to the Bailiff’s Law a file to enforce a judgment can be opened at any Bailiff’s Office in the country

Question:

Can the Chief Bailiff set interest or linkage on sums he himself sets ?

Answer:

Yes. Where the Chief Bailiff exercises his powers to set sums due to be paid eg for damages against a trustee or property receiver etc he is also able to set interest and linkage

Question:

Can a wife take action against the Bailiff's to enforce a divorce agreement that was authorized by court according to the Spouses’ Property Relations Law, but was not given the validity of a judgment, if fails to pay her money he is supposed to under it ?

Answer:

No ! When court authorisation of a property relations agreement does not take the form of a decision or judgment then it does not constitute a judicial decision which can be enforced at the bailiff’s office. The 1973 Spouses’ Property Relations’ Act obliges the couple to authorise the agreement in order to guarantee the fact that each side had fully made up his/her mind and had acted according to his/her own volition. Only an agreement that is authorised by the court and also receives the status of a judgment as defined in section 1 of the Bailiff’s Act of 1967, can be enforced at the bailiff’s. Without this status it cannot be enforced at the bailiff’s.

Question:

Where there is dispute between opposing parties about the interpretation of a court judgment, and the one who loses refuses to carry it out, can the one who wins, ask the court to clarify what it means before going to the Bailiff's to enforce it ?

Answer:

No ! According to the Bailiff’s Act of 1967 only the Chief Bailiff is entitled to ask the court who made a judgment presented to him for enforcement to clarify it. The parties cannot do so on their own initiative.

Question:

Is a husband against whom proceedings have been started at the Bailiff's limited time-wise to disputing the existence of a maintenance debt according to a judgment , or can he file it at any stage ?

Answer:

No, he can claim he has paid off the debt against him, in full or in part, at any time after the judgment has been given, and is not restricted, as the 1967 Bailiff’s Act does not set a deadline for claiming this defence

Question

What can a mother do when the father refuses to pay back half the cost of their son’s dental treatment amounting to thousands of shekels , as he is supposed to according to their court authorize divorce agreement ?  

Answer:

The mother should open a file at the Bailiff’s Office to enforce the father’s undertaking according to the judgment authorizing the divorce agreement.

Question:

Can a creditor who has opened a file against a debtor at the bailiff’s obtain an order ‘freezing’ rights due to him under inheritance ?

Answer:

Yes.

Question:

Could adult children of a debtor - who is allowed to leave Israel for emergency surgery abroad after they act as guarantors – lose their bond if he dies abroad ?

Answer:

No ! The liability for a debtor's adult children is non-existent if he does not return because of death abroad. Their guarantee for his return to Israel ends upon his death and they cannot lose any money they put up for him because if this happened. However, they are also his heirs under law, and could be liable for some of his debts under the Inheritance Law of 1965. This liability would have nothing to do with them acting as guarantors, however.