Since the corona plague broke into our lives it has dramatically affected the schedules of court cases. Countless hearings have been canceled and adjourned, and the courts have shown a particularly patient attitude regarding requests for extension of filing of judgments. But it seems that now, two and a half years into the Corona virus crisis, there are those who have decided that the celebration should end.
Judge Magen Altuvia from the Tel Aviv Economic Court received a request to postpone the submission of the summary letter. According to the firm of Forer, Levy, Orgad & Co. – the firm has a very heavy workload, when recently one of the partnership in the firm fell ill in Corona and this causes further disruption in the firm’s work. Following this, Judge Altuvia was asked to approve a further postponement of the filing of the summary letter on behalf of the defendant.
Judge Altuvia wrote in his decision that he understands the plaintiffs’ frustration in light of the length of the proceedings over the years. According to him, the lawyers of the defendant company had to take into account in advance the circumstances mentioned in the application for dismissal. Judge Altuvia later explicitly referred to the rejection request against the background of being infected with Corona. “It is not clear from the application whether there was a real impediment to working from home and for how long.” According to Altuvia, “the use of the magic word ‘sick in Corona’ can no longer be used as an excuse for procrastination.”
Altuvia wrote at the end of his decision that as long as the defendant insists on an extension request, he will allow this but while ruling on significant expenses in favor of the State Treasury on the grounds of unnecessarily prolonging the hearing.
Is this a change in the trend of the courts in relation to postponements on the basis of corona disease or a single and random decision of Judge Altuvia? time will tell.