Private International Law in Israel

Israel’s private international law (PIL) regime is not codified, nor is it clearly traceable to any one legal system. For these reasons, this volume serves an immensely useful purpose for foreign parties with interests in Israel. It sets forth, in clear and comprehensive detail, all the elements of practice necessary to protect rights or assets of any nature of foreign aspect but likely to fall under Israeli law or under the jurisdiction of an Israeli court.

Among the book’s many practice-oriented pointers and clarifications the reader will find the following and more:

• national and international sources of Israeli PIL;
• types of choice-of-law rules;
• characterization of legal matters;
• natural and legal persons;
• contractual and non-contractual obligations;
• property law (movables, immovables, trusts, cultural property)
• intellectual and industrial property rights;
• companies organized under the civil or commercial law of any state;
• insolvency;
• family law and succession;
• scope of international jurisdiction in Israeli courts;
• proof of foreign law;
• judicial assistance;
• recognition and enforcement of foreign judgements;
• international arbitration; and
• the role of literature and legal doctrine.

Because the style and method of legal development in Israel has primarily followed the tradition of the common law, the author recognizes that case law is the first place to look to find out what Israeli law says on any given matter. Her approach is also particularly valuable in that she does not confine her study to the rules already existing in Israeli PIL, but establishes rules in areas where such are missing, guided by the methods and principles which the court and legislature would have adopted had they been confronted with these problems.

The book will be especially useful to the many international business people and their counsel with interests in Israel. It will also serve as an admirable and clear statement of Israeli PIL for academic purposes.