Israeli Court Reporting

I could make this article extremely short by saying that this legal document is more like a poor and pathetic summary of what was said in court and nothing else.

The expectations a new immigrant has concerning court proceedings are fair but unrealistic. My goal is to lower the expectation. The higher your expectation, the bigger will be your disappointment.

The document is typed by an underpaid clerk (as far as I know they are all women and all work for the same Judge for a long period until they decide to move on to another job) and unfortunately with no legal knowledge.

Much of what is recorded about what is said that day is actually decided by this clerk. If she is awake and fast enough on that day the protocol will resemble what was said. If not, the document will be a short laconic piece of paper not accurately reflecting what was said.

Minutes of the hearing do not reflect what happens in the courtroom that day. They are a short document and the Judge has little interest over the precision of the document. The "smaller" the case the less relevant the protocol is in its accuracy and length.

What is a court reporter? Court reporters, also known as verbatim reporters, stenographers or shorthand writers, make word-for-word (verbatim) records of court proceedings using machine shorthand or traditional shorthand.

Looking for something like real time court reporting - A reporter of the court? Not here! They are still irrelevant in Israel. A comprehensive real-time court reporting service can be used in rare cases and they are extremely expensive. There is no local or remote Internet participation during hearings either, and real-time court reporting allowing you to interact and participate with your colleagues from anywhere in the world is non-existent.

The court room is not a place of justice but of law-making and compliance!

A personal touch:

I remember my first appearance in the Supreme Court. I was very excited and when the chief justice spoke to me I felt extremely honored. The chief justice told me he would grant my request next time, if this time I agreed to erase my request and try an agreement outside of the court. As is expected I asked the Honorable Judge to write it down in the protocol for future reference.

The hearing was a short one, less than one hour, and the entire protocol, including the names of the sides and the Judges was less than three pages!

Six months after the hearing I had not reached an agreement with the State and I was in court again. The Chief Justice did not participate in this hearing but three other Judges did.

I asked to be granted my original request and reminded the Honorable Judges what was promised by the Chief Justice. I was asked the simple question: "Where is it shown in the previous protocol"? Since then I`ve learned my lesson.

A word of wisdom:

Court rooms in Israel resemble everything except a court room. Remember that the decision made in that room is also influenced by your behavior, by your self-control, your wisdom, by how well your lawyer (if you have one) perform and even by how the Honorable Judging is feeling that day.

Sincerely,
 

Tzvi Szajnbrum, Attorney at Law