Heirs of Shababo v Heilen (No 2)

• Jurisdiction: Israel
• Date: 15 October 1953
• Court: District Court (Israel)

Israel, Jerusalem District Court Execution Officer.

(Vitkon J. sitting as Chief Execution Officer.)

Heirs of Shababo

and

Heilen (No. 2).

Consuls — Immunity of — Franchise de I'hôtel — Execution — Distinction between Execution against Foreign State and Execution on Premises Belonging to Foreign State — Right of Asylum — Judgment Debtor Seeking Asylum in Consulate-General — Power of Police to Force Entry Against Will of Consul-General for Purpose of Arresting Judgment Debtor.

The Facts.—After judgment had been given against Heilen in the sum of l£. 29,500 in the case of Heirs of Shababo v. Heilen and Others (see supra, p. 391), the judgment creditors sought to enforce the judgment. As the judgment debt was not paid, application was made to the Chief Execution Officer under s. 10 of the Debt (Imprisonment) Ordinance (Laws of Palestine, Chapter 48) for examination of the judgment debtor as to means. The judgment debtor having failed to appear in court in response to a duly issued summons, a warrant for his arrest was issued. It then appeared that Heilen was remaining within the precincts of the Belgian Consulate-General in Jerusalem, and although the police were normally bound to arrest a judgment debtor wherever he might be and bring him before the Execution Office, they felt in this case, in accordance with instructions received, that they were not entitled to enter the precincts of the Consulate-General and effect therein an arrest contrary to the wish of the Consul-General. Application was thereupon made by the judgment creditor to the Chief Execution Office for an order to the police to enter the Consulate-General for the purpose of making the arrest. The judgment debtor was not represented at the hearing, but the representative of the Attorney-General opposed the application, arguing that the warrant could only be executed outside the area of the Consulate-General.

Held: that there was no principle of international law which permitted the premises of a Consulate-General to be used as a place of refuge so as to frustrate the normal course of justice. The police were, therefore, specifically directed to enter the premises of the Consulate-General and effect the arrest therein.

The Court said: “At first sight this would seem to be a theoretical question. The Consul-General has informed the Execution Office through his counsel that the judgment debtor has no assets either here or abroad, and I have not heard from counsel for the plaintiffs that he has any reason to doubt the accuracy of that statement. But the judgment creditor has the right to examine the debtor, and he is entitled to insist upon that right. Furthermore, every creditor whose debt has not been settled is entitled, subject to the conditions laid down in the Ordinance, to demand the imprisonment of the judgment debtor for a period of...