ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: Joseph (Yossi) Ashkenazi, Haim Machluf and Roy Schondorf, Herzog Fox & Neeman
Following Final Judgment Judgment execution proceedings
• Preventing the debtor from establishing a corpo - ration or becoming a substantial stakeholder in a corporation. • Listing the debtor in the registry of non-paying debtors (a publicly available registry; see 1.1 Options to Identify Another Party’s Asset Posi- tion ). • An attachment on various assets, which may be carried from an earlier order granted in court proceedings, or imposed independently by the execution registrar, including towards third par - ties – if the judgment debtor does not pay their debt, the attached assets may be later auctioned and the returns used to satisfy the judgment. Some assets may not be attached – eg, devices or animals which the debtor needs due to any disabil - ity; clothes; medical equipment; and other various basic living needs of the debtor and their family. The judgment debtor may appeal to lift an attachment by: • filing a motion to the execution registrar; • paying their debts entirely; • agreeing on a payment plan with the judgment creditor (and then filing an appropriate motion to the execution registrar, with the creditor’s agree - ment); or • appealing the execution registrar’s decision to the court. The aforementioned and following relate to civil judg - ment debtors. Separate execution proceedings, which include more severe sanctions (such as, in some cases, imprisonment), exist with regard to alimony debtors. Contempt of court proceedings A creditor may also instigate contempt of court pro - ceedings against a judgment debtor for failure to com - ply with a judgment or court order (often considered, for example, where there has been a breach of an injunction or a specific performance order). Sanctions for contempt of court include a monetary fine or, in rare cases, imprisonment. While applying pressure on the debtor, contempt pro - ceedings do not directly guarantee the judgment’s
If the judgment debtor has not satisfied a judgment within 30 days from the day on which it was rendered (or a different deadline set by the court), the judgment creditor may move to execute the judgment via the bureau of execution. This applies both to a pecuniary judgment and to a specific performance order. The judgment creditor may instigate execution pro - ceedings even if an appeal on the judgment is pend - ing, as long as a stay of execution order has not been granted. The execution registrar (a state-appointed person, authorised to make judicial decisions relating to exe - cution of judgments) may issue a warrant for the sei - zure and sale of assets owned by the debtor in order to satisfy the judgment. Once an execution motion has been filed, the judg - ment debtor is required to act according to one of the following alternatives. • Pay the debt in full, within 20 days. • Request a payment plan (in this case they will be required to prove that they do not have the finan - cial ability to pay the debt in full), within 20 days. • Request a “financial ability investigation”, which will determine the judgment debtor’s ability to pay the debt (and will decide on a payment plan if necessary), within 21 days. Note that a corporation may not be subject to a financial ability investiga - tion. A financial ability investigation may also be initiated independently by the execution registrar, or at the request of the judgment creditor. If the debtor was found to be able to pay the debt, but does not act accordingly, they might be subject to numerous additional sanctions, including the fol - lowing. • A stay of exit order, barring the debtor from leaving the jurisdiction. • Declaration as a limited client by the bank, render - ing the debtor unable to use checks or unlimited bank accounts. • Limiting or prohibiting the debtor’s credit card use.
243 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook