Arbitration Law, 1968

Addendum

(Section 2)

1. The arbitration will be before a single arbitrator, unless a greater number of arbitrators has been fixed.
2. In an arbitration before an even number of arbitrators, the arbitrators will, on the demand of one of them, appoint an additional arbitrator. When an additional arbitrator has been appointed, he will be the arbitration chairman.
3. In an arbitration before an uneven number of arbitrators, the arbitrators will select a chairman from among themselves.
4. The arbitration chairman may fix the place and times of arbitration sessions, and he may decide everything connected with its procedure.
5. The decisions of the arbitrators and the award will be adopted by a majority vote. In the absence of a majority for the final award, the chairman will have the casting vote. An arbitrator who is left in the minority may record his dissenting vote in the award.
6. In an arbitration in which an umpire has been appointed, the umpire will assume his functions after the other arbitrators, or one of them, have given him and the parties written notice that there is no majority for the final award; and upon assuming his functions, he will take the place of the other arbitrators.
7. When an arbitrator assumes his functions as an additional arbitrator, umpire or substitute arbitrator, the arbitration will continue from the stage which it has reached, unless the arbitrator requests otherwise.
8. The arbitrator may direct the parties to answer interrogatories, to disclose and produce documents and to do any other thing connected with the conduct of the arbitration, as a Court might do in an action brought before it.
9. When an arbitrator issues an order to a party on anything connected with the conduct of the arbitration, and the party without justifiable cause does not comply with the order, then, after warning the party, the arbitrator may, if the party is the plaintiff dismiss the claim, and if the party is the defendant, strike out the defense and decide the dispute as if the defendant had not presented a defense.
10. The arbitrator will not hold a session in the absence of a party, unless he has warned him, in writing or orally, that he will proceed at that session in his absence, if he does not attend.
11. Before taking evidence, the arbitrator will warn the witness that he must testify truthfully, since otherwise he will be liable to the penalty prescribed by law.
12. When the settlement of the dispute involves a matter that requires expert knowledge, the arbitrator may, at any stage of the proceedings and after he has given the parties a suitable opportunity to state their cases, direct that the matter be referred to the opinion of an expert appointed by him. A copy of the expert opinion will be delivered to the parties, who may oppose it and may demand to question the expert, as if he were a witness on the arbitrator’s behalf. The arbitrator may refrain from hearing the evidence of other experts on a matter he has referred to an expert, if he has notified the parties in advance and they have not objected.
13. The arbitrator will place the arbitration file at the parties’ disposal, at any reasonable time, for inspection and copying.
14. The arbitrator will act in such manner as appears to him most conducive to a just and speedy settlement of the dispute, and he will make the award to the best of his judgment in accordance with the material before him. The arbitrator will not be bound by the substantive law, the rules of evidence or the rules of procedure that is obtained in Courts.
15. The arbitrator will make the award within three months from the day on which he began to deal with the dispute, or on which he was called upon to deal with it by a party by written notice, whichever is the earlier date, provided that the arbitrator may extend the period by up to three additional months.

O1. The arbitrator will explain the arbitration award.

(2^nd Amendment: 2008)

1. The arbitrator may bring a legal question, which arises in the course of the arbitration, or all or part of the award, by way of case stated before the Court for an opinion.
2. The arbitrator may grant a declaratory decision, a mandatory or a prohibitive injunction, an order for specific performance and any other relief which the Court is competent to grant, and he may also make an interim award which settles the subject matter of the arbitration in part.
3. The arbitrator may issue directions about all or part of the expenses of the parties, including advocates’ fees, and the remuneration and expenses of the arbitrator, and he may direct the deposit of these amounts or the provision of security for their payment. Unless the arbitrator directs otherwise, the parties will pay him his remuneration and expenses in equal shares.
4. The arbitrator will retain the arbitration file for seven years after the completion of the arbitration.
5. A document in an arbitration sent to the arbitrator or a party by registered post, with a certificate of delivery, will be considered to have been sent to the addressee on the date indicated on the certificate of delivery or on the certificate of refusal to accept the document.

Addendum                         (2^nd Amendment: 2008)

(Section 21a)

1. The arbitration meetings will be recorded in a protocol or by other method as agreed in the arbitration agreement; the protocol will reflect the process of the hearing and the parties’ phrases.
2. The appeal will be served after no more than 30 days from the date on which the arbitration award was delivered to the parties or from the day on which an arbitrator was appointed to the appeal, the latter of them, and will be explained; The other parties may submit their explained response to the appeal no later than 30 days from the date the appeal was sent to them; The appellant may submit a response to the parties’ response no later than 15 days from the date of the parties’ response.
3. An appeal was submitted – the other parties may submit a counter-claim appeal within 30 days from the date they received the appeal; The other parties may submit an explained response to the counter-claim appeal within 15 days of receiving the counterclaim appeal.
4. The arbitrator in the appeal may hold meetings in the presence of the parties, hear arguments and ask for written summaries, but is not entitled to hear witnesses; The ruling of the appeal will be based on the material held by the first arbitrator, and based on the statements of claim and written summaries submitted in the appeal.
5. The arbitrator in the appeal must file his decision within two months from completing the appeal proceedings.
6. The arbitrator in the appeal will explain his decision.

Levi Eshkol

Prime Minister Yaacov S. Shapiro

Minister of Justice Shneur Zalman Shazar

President of the State of Israel