Amendment of a statement of claim – request to amend a statement of claim (important highlights)

Amending a statement of claim is a common procedural step in civil proceedings and often results from a mistake made by the plaintiff (or his attorney) when drafting the statement of claim.

Sometimes the error is expressed in the failure to state important facts, and sometimes the error stems from the failure to mention a necessary remedy for the claim.

If you did not claim a specific remedy in the statement of claim, the court will not be entitled to award it at the conclusion of the proceedings.

If you need legal assistance regarding the amendment of a claim, you are welcome to contact Civil lawyer Eddie Blitstein.

There is a right to demand amendment of a statement of claim in civil proceedings.

Regulation 46Civil Procedure Regulations It states as follows:

(a) The court may at any time order that any matter in a pleading be amended or that a party be added or the name of a party be deleted from the statement of claim, in order to ensure a proper and fair judicial process, taking into account, among other things, the conduct of the person requesting the amendment, the stage of proceedings at which the application is submitted, and the purpose that the requested amendment is expected to achieve.

(b) An amended statement of claims shall be filed within twenty days.

Please note: This regulation does not only deal with the plaintiff or the amendment of a statement of claim, but with respect to all those involved in the case, so this regulation can also be used to request the amendment of a statement of defense.

According to this regulation, it is possible to request an amendment to a statement of claim. whenever, but according to practice and case law, the more advanced the procedure is, the more the court will refrain from approving the plaintiff's request to amend the statement of claim or the statement of defense.

An amendment to the statement of claim will only be approved if the amendment relates to the issues in dispute between the parties, and to substantive and not marginal matters.

Amending a statement of claim that relates to the addition of new facts requires the submission of an affidavit.

In the vast majority of cases, correction Claim will lead to the plaintiff being charged legal costs in favor of the defendant. The purpose of legal costs is to compensate the defendant for having to submit Defense Re-opened (because the plaintiff did not draft the statement of claim properly).

In what cases will an amendment to a claim not be approved by the court?

In most cases, the plaintiff's request to amend a statement of claim will be accepted by the court, because the prevailing approach in the courts is that everything possible must be done to arrive at the truth, and in most cases the court will prefer to give the litigant his day in court.

However, this does not mean that an amendment to a claim can be requested at any stage of the legal process, or in any case. If the purpose of the amendment to the claim is to add new grounds of claim, the courts will not approve the amendment (in most cases).

This issue was recently discussed by the Supreme Court (whose rulings Obligatory את הערכאות הנמוכות יותר) במסגרת רע"א 4699/18 פלוני ואח' נ' בית חולים העמק ואח', החלטה מיום 15.8.2018.

As part of this procedure, it was determined, among other things, as follows:

Regulation 92 toCivil Procedure Regulations, התשמ"ד-1984 מאפשרת את תיקונם של כתבי הטענות "בכל עת" ו"בתנאים הנראים צודקים".

It has often been stated in case law that this authority is interpreted liberally and that such a request will be granted generously (see, for example, רע"א 2345/98 ס' Dangor And brother' N' Birch And brother', P"ד נב(3) 427, 431 (1998); רע"א 6195/12 Israel Discount Bank Ltd."מ N' Shimer, [Published in Nevo] paragraph 5 (25.10.2012)).

עם זאת, "בית המשפט ייטה שלא להתיר תיקון כתב טענות אם מטרת התיקון היא הוספת עילה חדשה, אשר הראיות להוכחתה שונות מן הראיות הדרושות להוכחת העילה המקורית.

נטייה זו מתחזקת ככל שהתביעה נמצאת בשלבים מתקדמים יותר של ההליך, וככל שהתרת התיקון תאריך ותסרבל את הדיון" (bad"א867/17 Pninat Hatzomat Ltd."מ N' Shlomo Car sale (2000) Ltd."From, [published in Nevo] paragraph 12 and references there (22.3.2017))).

Alongside this consideration, there are other considerations such as Good faith and delay in filing the application; the timing of its filing in relation to the stage of the proceedings; the behavior of the requesting party; the impact of the amendment on the opposing party's defense, and a systemic-public consideration relating to the time resources of the judicial system (a)Veri Goren Issues in Civil Procedure328-321 (2015)).

That is, the more advanced the procedure is, the more cumbersome the amendment of the statement of claim will be, and if, as part of the amendment request, it is requested to add new grounds of claim, the court will tend not to approve the plaintiff's request to amend the statement of claim.

פסיקת בית המשפט העליון בנושא זה לא השתנתה גם לאחר כניסתן לתוקף של תקנות סדר הדין האזרחי, תשע"ט – 2018. בעניין זה נפסק ברע"א 8892/20 דן פורטמן נ' צורי שדי ניהול ואחזקות מבנים בע"מ (החלטה מיום 8.4.2021), בין היתר, כך:

כידוע, לבית המשפט שיקול דעת רחב בהפעלת סמכותו להיעתר "בכל עת" לבקשות לתיקון כתבי טענות, "בדרך ובתנאים הנראים צודקים" לשם הכרעה "בשאלות שהן באמת השאלות השנויות במחלוקת בין בעלי הדין" (Regulation 92 toתקסד"א Recurrence; and Regulation 46 לתקנות סדר הדין האזרחי, התשע"ח-2018 (להלן: תקסד"א החדשות)). בשים לב לתכלית זו, לאורך השנים השתרשה בפסיקה גישה ליברלית ביחס לבקשות לתיקון כתבי טענות, כאשר על פי רוב נעתרים להן ברוחב לב (רע"א 8966/20 Mohanna v. Khalil Suleiman, [published in Nevo] paragraph 10 (17.1.2021); רע"א 6222/20 Hadar v. Shem Tov, [Published in Nevo] paragraph 13 (27.10.2020)).

Among its considerations, the court will examine the stage of the proceedings, the good faith of the person requesting the amendment, whether the amendment is likely to lead to prolongation and inconvenience of the hearing, as well as the potential contribution of the amendment to clarifying the issues in dispute (see: בר"מ 4303/12 Insler v. Emek Hefer Regional Council, [published in Nevo] paragraph 8 and references therein (22.11.2012) (hereinafter: Insler case); Yoel Zussman Civil Procedure 362-335 (seventh edition edited by Shlomo Levin, 1995) (hereinafter: Zussman)). In applying these considerations to the circumstances of the case at hand, I believe that the requested amendment should be permitted, even taking into account the policy of limited intervention in the decision of the reviewing court that is customary with respect to decisions of this type.

This is a request to amend the amount of the claim, which expands, in relation to the same cause of action, and on a substantially identical factual basis, the scope of the damage caused to the apartment owners as a result of the actions of the contracting company. Consequently, it is clear that granting the request for amendment does not complicate or prolong the procedure to an unacceptable extent.

This conclusion is strengthened given the stage of proceedings in which the proceedings are currently at: Although approximately 5 years have passed since the filing of the lawsuit, the proceedings have not yet begun. The evidentiary hearings בעניין הסעד הכספי, נושא בקשת התיקון, והרי בחלוף הזמן, כשלעצמו, אין "השפעה מכרעת" היה ולא "התחיל בינתיים הבירור והמשפט התקדם" (ראו: זוסמן, עמ' 354-353; ראו גם: רע"א 2345/98 דנגור נ' ליבנה, פ"ד נב(3) 427, 432 (1998)).

לא זו אף זו, דומה כי היענות לבקשת התיקון תביא לבירור ממצה של הפלוגתאות שבין הצדדים ותסייע לבית המשפט "להכריע בשאלות שהן באמת השאלות השנויות במחלוקת", כמצוות Article 92 toתקסד"א recurrence; and that on the other hand, its postponement may cause considerable damage to the apartment owners, who will only be compensated for part of the damage caused to them, and will not be able to claim for the remaining damage due to Court action Rehabilitation, a concern that arises even more strongly considering the severity and scope of the defects in the construction work, as indicated by the opinion of the court's expert.

A certain change in trend when amending a claim or Amendment of defense

In a recent Supreme Court ruling relating to the amendment of a statement of claim (amendment of a statement of claim or amendment Statement of defense in a financial claim או אזרחית) בית המשפט מדגיש כי הגישה הליברלית שהייתה נהוגה בעת תוקפן של תקנות סדר הדין האזרחי, תשמ"ד – 1984 כבר אינה חלה לאחר כניסתן לתוקף של תקנות סדר הדין האזרחי, תשע"ט – 2018 (החל מתאריך 1.1.2021).

בעניין זה בית המשפט העליון קבע ברע"א 3510/21 Idan Netzer v. David Confino et al. (Published in Nevo, August 25, 2021):

"ויובהר, בפסיקה שנהגה לאורך השנים בהן חלו תקנות סדר הדין האזרחי, התשמ"ד-1984 (hereinafter: theתקסד"א Recurrence) used A liberal approach to requests to amend pleadings, which were reviewed accordingly to regulation 92 לתקסד"א הישנות, כאשר על פי רוב היו נעתרים להן ברוחב לב (ראו, למשל: בר"ם 4303/12 Insler v. Emek Hefer Regional Council, [published in Nevo] paragraph 8 and references therein (22.11.2012); רע"א 198/20 Potschnik v. MORBY, [published in Nevo] paragraph 15 and references therein (10.6.2020); רע"א 8892/20 פורטמן נ' צורי שדי ניהול ואחזקות מבנים בע"מ, [פורסם בנבו] פסקה 14 (8.4.2021); יואל זוסמן סדרי הדין האזרחי 362-335 (מהדורה שביעית, 1995)).

לעומת זאת, התקסד"א החדשות משקפות דרישה להקפדה גבוהה יותר מצד הצדדים על עמידה בדרישות סדרי הדין, ונראה כי במסגרתן תהיה ידו של בית המשפט קפוצה יותר כשמדובר בבקשות לתיקון כתבי טענות. כך, במיוחד, באותם מקרים בהם ניתן היה בהשקעה סבירה ובמיומנות ראויה לכלול את התיקון המבוקש כבר במסגרת כתב הטענות המקורי (השוו: רע"א 5060/21 נחל אשכול השקעות בע"מ נ' מנורה נכסים והשקעות בע"מ, [פורסם בנבו] פסקאות 10-13 (18.8.2021)).

Do you need to correct your statement of claim?

If you encounter a problem that requires amending a statement of claim or statement of defense, you should contact us as soon as possible. Claims lawyer Experienced and knowledgeable in all matters related to amending pleadings and submitting a request to amend a pleading.

In conclusion

Amending a claim may not be a simple task, especially if a request to amend a claim is submitted at an advanced stage of the proceedings. It is very useful to familiarize yourself with the relevant legal arguments for amending a claim and to submit the request as early as possible.

In any case, keep in mind that if a request is filed to amend a statement of claim and the court accepts it, you may be obligated to pay legal costs to the opposing party, because the defendant will be forced to file an amended statement of defense.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Amendment of a Claim