You won a judgment. Three years have passed. And nothing has happened.
That is exactly what happened to apartment owners in a building on Anne Frank Street in Bat Yam.
In 2023 they won a judgment against the developer who built the building. The developer was ordered to repair defects in the exterior cladding. The building was declared a dangerous structure, and an expert found that it posed a real safety hazard.
Three years later, the repair has still not been carried out.
So the residents turned to a tool that is not used enough: a motion under the Contempt of Court Ordinance.
This month the Tel Aviv District Court granted the motion. The developer was ordered to begin the work within 14 days. For every day it does not begin, it will pay a fine of 4,000 shekels.
Contempt of court is not compensation. It is a lever of pressure. It has one goal: to get the other side to finally do what the court has already ordered.
The developer argued that a dispute over ownership of the company prevents it from carrying out the work. The court rejected the argument, because no supporting evidence was presented. The judge wrote that for several years the work has not been carried out "on various pretexts". The company stated that it will request a stay of execution and appeal to the Supreme Court.
Two takeaways:
1. A judgment is not the end of the road.
It is the beginning of a new stage: getting it carried out in practice.
2. You can ask for sanctions to enforce it.
When a judgment requires someone to do something, for example to repair, deliver or stop, and not only to pay money, you can ask the court to impose sanctions to enforce it.
When managing a lawsuit, it is worth thinking from the very start not only about how to win, but also about how to get the judgment carried out.