Bar's new arbitration institute seeks to relieve court overload

The Israel Bar Association launched its arbitration institute with a conference addressing how to get parties with legal disputes to choose arbitration, instead of the courts.

Supreme Court Justice Yoram Danzinger, once an arbitrator in high demand, said arbitrators should receive professional training, and emphasized the efficiency of the process.

Courts Administration Director Moshe Gal said parties need to be given the right to appeal all arbitration rulings - the lack of an appeal option is the biggest deterrent, he argued.

The institute chairman, attorney Zvi Firon, said only 200 arbitration proceedings are conducted annually in Israel.

"We want to see thousands a year," he said.

At the conference last week, Israel Bar Association President Yori Geiron said arbitrations should be no less professional than court proceedings

"We first want to take care of small arbitrations. If we have to conduct them in Yeruham or Shlomi, that's where they will take place. I'm talking about tens of thousands of cases," he said.

Gal said that even though the arbitration process has the backing of the legal system, the results are meager, which is not in the public's interest. The reason, he argues, is that people are concerned about the fact that is no way to appeal an arbitration result. Gal said appeals should be allowed for all arbitration rulings, and not just in special circumstances, as is currently the case.

Danzinger said he opposes this, as it would impose a greater burden on the courts, which are already overtaxed. He also noted that there have not been any studies showing why parties with legal disputes do not choose arbitration.

Danzinger quoted a 2004 study that found Israel has one of the highest rates of open court cases per capita. The study also indicated that every year, 189 new court cases are opened per 1,000 citizens.

To explain why the courts are facing such a heavy load, Danzinger said, "We are a nation that likes to debate, and as a result there is an intolerable number of cases. We want the other party to lose before a large audience."