Small Claims Courts term to end?

New government proposal could end judicial involvement in small claims cases in efforts to ease justice system's load

Meirav Crystal|Published: 05.17.11 , 09:40

Will the Small Claims Court become even smaller? On Wednesday the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee will deliberate over a government proposal that could change the face of the Small Claims Court.

The 61st amendment to the Judiciary Act, initiated by the Justice Ministry in 2010 which has already passed its first reading, seeks to enable registrars to act as judges in lawsuits seeking up to NIS 50,000 ($14,200) in damages or restitution. Since Small Claims Courts only rule in claims that do not exceed NIS 30,000 ($8,500), the courts themselves are the bill's main beneficiaries.

The purpose of the bill is to relieve judges of their case load but it seems that the bill prefers quantity to quality. As registrars are mainly legal experts who usually deal with court and legal procedures, execution office issues and technical and administrative procedures. Yet they have no training as judges.

Weaker side suffers

Since the Small Claims Court often deals with consumer lawsuits it would seem that the purpose of the bill is actually to make the system efficient at the expense of the "average Joe," as it is much easier to appoint a registrar than a judge even if they are not exactly the same.

"It is like having a nurse treat you instead of a doctor," said Uriel Raz who volunteers as a litigator in the Small Claims Court. There are no lawyers involved in the Small Claims Court and the weaker side suffers for it. The strong side is backed up by a team of attorneys behind the scenes.

"Before the bill to change registrar status was proposed, even those with very little or no money who sought to launch a suit would have his day in court before a judge. After it passes judges will be something only the wealthy that are able to pay for lawyers can afford, "Raz notes.

"This won't relieve the burden," Attorney Yoram Sagi-Sacks the chairman of the national committee for volunteers who operates the registered litigators under the authority of the Justice Ministry told Ynet.

"Registrars have a much heavier case load than judges so consumers will receive less quality time. Each registrar has 50 requests he needs to deal with on a daily basis. Small claims need to be taken seriously and judges should be the ones to rule."