Procedures
Magistrates and District Courts with new Civil Procedure Regulations from 2021
Civil claims are brought in the Magistrates' Courts or the District Courts according to value and subject matter, with appeal to the District Court or the Supreme Court. New Civil Procedure Regulations took effect on 1 January 2021, emphasising proportionality and active case management.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The State of Israel, through Magistrates', District and specialised courts.
- Deadline — General limitation period for civil claims: seven years under the Prescription Law
- Deadline — Appeal as of right: 45 days from the judgment in most civil cases
Governing law
- Civil Procedure Regulations 5779-2018in force 1 January 2021
- Courts Law (Consolidated Version) 5744-1984
- Prescription Law 5718-1958 — general seven-year limitation
In practice
The 2021 Regulations were the first comprehensive rewrite in decades and introduced an express proportionality principle, tighter pleading requirements, front-loaded disclosure and compulsory pre-trial procedures aimed at reducing hearing time. Israel is a common law system in method, with binding precedent from the Supreme Court, but its private law has been progressively codified by statute rather than left to case law. There is no jury trial in any Israeli court, civil or criminal. Small claims are heard in a dedicated track with limited representation.