Are hearings always held in court?
Within the framework of all Civil lawsuit or Financial claim Or even Class action lawsuit חייבת להתבצע פרוצדורה מסויימת אשר קבועה במסגרת תקנות סדר הדין האזרחי, תשע"ט – 2018. פרוצדורה זו מכתיבה לשופטים את החובה לקיים דיונים בבית משפט.
However, this legal procedure states that in certain cases a court hearing can be held using Visual conferencingThat is, all or some of the litigants will join the discussion. To be held in the courtroom Using Zoom or Skype.
These exceptional cases are mainly relevant to situations where some of the litigants are not in Israel and have difficulty arriving at the hearing (for example, due to war or due to restrictions that existed during the COVID-19 pandemic). Video conferencing may also be relevant for court hearings for a litigant who is in Israel but cannot physically attend one of the hearings due to a serious illness.
The only situation where a court hearing may not be held is when the parties notify the court that they have reached a settlement before the first hearing takes place. In such a situation, the parties will simply file a notice of Compromise agreement And they will ask for the settlement to be valid. verdict.
The purpose of a court hearing
The conduct of a civil proceeding based solely on pleadings, such as Claim or Defense, is almost impossible. In court hearings, the judge will try to hold a dialogue with the parties and get them to reach agreements that will simplify and shorten the procedure (agreed skipping of certain procedures stipulated inCivil Procedure Regulations), or even bring the proceedings to a conclusion through compromise.
The bottom line is that we should remember that judges are also very interested in ending the civil proceedings as soon as possible in order to reduce the burden on them that stems from dozens or hundreds of lawsuits that they are handling simultaneously.
Another thing to consider is that lawyers sometimes mislead their clients (either intentionally or through inexperience) about the chances of their lawsuit succeeding or the chances of their defense being successful. Until the client appears before a judge in court, they will not know what the judge really thinks about the case, and what the chances of the procedure actually are.
רק לאחר התייצבות לקדם המשפט הראשון, ולאחר מכן לקדם המשפט המסכם הלקוח יכול לקבל מושג ראשוני "לאן נושבות הרוחות" ומה באמת השופט חושב על התיק. לעיתים שופטים עושים שימוש בדיונים אלה כדי להלחיץ או להפחיד את הלקוחות Even when your chances of success are good, all with the aim of ending the lawsuit as quickly as possible.
דיונים בבית משפט מתחילים באמצעות "קדם משפט"
Pre-trial (or preliminary hearing) This is the first hearing the parties attend in court, and it is the first time the parties meet with a judge (before a pre-trial, the parties may conduct a hearing between themselves). Preliminary discussion, and the parties may meet with an external mediator within the framework פגישת מהו"ת).
When I prepare my clients for the first pre-trial hearing, I always emphasize to them that they should take everything said at this hearing by the judge with limited liability.If the judge tells my clients that they are going to win the case – I emphasize to them that it is too early to rejoice. If the judge tells my clients that they are going to lose – I emphasize to them that it is too early to be discouraged (among other things, because most judges still do not know the case and all the evidence well enough). This preparation is very important for the purpose of coordinating expectations and also to avoid causing the client difficult feelings that will accompany him long after the hearing.
The reason for this preparation is very simple – in many cases it is easy to recognize that the judge has not read the pleadings at all, let alone in depth, and he is not at all familiar with the all The arguments of the prosecution or defense. For this reason, any proposal made in this hearing may not actually reflect the chances of success in the case.
למרות זאת, במסגרת קדם משפט השופט ינסה מאוד לגרום לצדדים להתפשר. כדי להוביל לכך השופט ידגיש בפני התובע את הקשיים בגרסתו או טענותיו, ומנגד השופט ידגיש בפני הנתבע את הקשיים בהגנתו, והכל במטרה ללחוץ על הצדדים עצמם "לרדת מהעץ" ולמזער את הסיכונים שבהמשך ניהול ההליך.
The judge may emphasize to the parties that there is no point in conducting court hearings if the lawsuit can be settled through Judgment under Section 79AThis is a judgment given by agreement of the parties, with no reasons at all (or with a very brief reason), and almost impossible to appeal. To appeal against it.
That is, on the one hand, the lawsuit may end in the first pre-trial stage (with the consent of the parties), and on the other hand, the parties may receive a verdict that is almost impossible to appeal, and therefore the result may be very far from what one of the parties, or even both, expected.
Usually, in a lawsuit filed as part of Quick discussion (עד 75 אלף שקלים) יתקיים קדם משפט אחד. דיונים בבית משפט הם משאב מאוד יקר ובתביעות "פשוטות" יחסית מנסים לצמצם עד כמה שאפשר במספר הדיונים.
On the other hand, court hearings in more complex cases, in claims over 75,000 shekels, may require between 1 and 3 presiding judges (and in exceptional cases even more).
Court hearing after submission of primary witness affidavits – summary pre-trial
Affidavit of first witness It is a very important pleading in which the parties detail their factual claims and attach their evidence (documents they intend to rely on to prove their claim). The purpose of a primary witness affidavit is to reduce the number of investigations that will take place in the Evidence discussion, so that each party will focus on managing Cross-examination.
After the parties submit their primary witness affidavits, and hopefully the judge has read them carefully, the judge arrives much more firmly in his mind to proceed with the summary judgment.
A court hearing after the submission of initial witness statements is very different from a pre-trial hearing, and at this stage, the judge's suggestions or statements should be taken more seriously. The judge's statement during a summary pre-trial hearing may indicate his or her mindset and what he or she believes the outcome of the verdict should be.
If the judge offers a compromise proposal during a pre-trial summary trial, you should consider it carefully and not immediately reject it, even if you think it is not a good enough offer. If the parties do not reach an agreement or do not accept the judge's proposal, the case will be scheduled for an evidentiary hearing.
Evidence session – a court hearing that may decide the lawsuit
Usually, there will be one evidentiary hearing, but if there are a large number of litigants or a large number of witnesses, the judge may divide the hearing and schedule several evidentiary hearings. For example: at the first evidentiary hearing, the plaintiffs and their witnesses will be examined, and at the second evidentiary hearing, the defendants and their witnesses will be examined. In very exceptional cases, more than two evidentiary hearings will be scheduled.
It is very, very important that a lawyer prepares his clients well for the evidentiary hearing. Court hearings do not always require intensive preparation, but in the case of an evidentiary hearing, it is important to make sure that the client is familiar with what is written in the affidavit of primary witness that he signed, and that he knows how the hearing will proceed.
As part of the preparation, it is highly recommended to send the client to sit in on evidentiary hearings in other cases so that he understands how the evidentiary hearing in his case will proceed (most hearings are held in open court, and there is no obstacle to attending any hearing and listening to what is happening in the courtroom). It is even more recommended to send the client to evidentiary hearings in other cases that are being conducted by the same judge before whom the client's case is being conducted.
Court hearings, especially during evidentiary hearings, can have irreversible consequences. For example, if a client becomes confused and says something incorrect during questioning, this can greatly affect the outcome of the proceedings, and sometimes even a good lawyer will not be able to repair the damage the client has caused. This only highlights how important it is to prepare the client as well as possible for questioning.
During an evidentiary hearing, the opposing party's lawyer will interrogate and attempt to discredit the client and his witnesses, with the aim of proving that his client's version is the correct one.
In conclusion
Court hearings must take place pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Regulations. The only way to avoid court hearings is if the parties reach a settlement agreement before the first pre-trial hearing.
The first hearing in court is called a pre-trial. You will often find that the judge does not always come prepared for this hearing, and is not necessarily thoroughly familiar with all the pleadings or all the parties' claims or demands. However, the judge will try to convince the parties to reach agreements that will simplify the procedure, or even try to convince the parties to allow him to give a judgment through compromise.
After the initial witness affidavits are filed, the parties will come to another hearing called a summary pre-trial. At this hearing, the judge will be much more knowledgeable about the case, and if he makes any suggestion, it should be considered and not ignored, because it may indicate that the judge has already begun to formulate his position regarding the parties' arguments.
A court hearing that may determine the outcome of the proceedings is the evidentiary hearing. It is very, very important to prepare the client well for this hearing, as it is the most important hearing.
