Supreme Court embraces our client’s position as an appointed authority and dismisses a class action
Adv. Shai Erez, a partner in Gross & Co.’s Litigation Department, and Adv. Tal Danon Shenhav, a partner and head of Gross & Co.’s Infrastructure Department, represented our client, Cross Israel Highway Ltd., before the Supreme Court. The proceeding dealt with a class action lawsuit filed against the highway operator for an alleged overcharging collection of travel fees from Cross Israel Highway’s users prior to the publication of the updated toll price in the official records (“Reshumot”).
The district court certified a class action lawsuit against the operator, who filed a motion for leave to appeal. Our client was allowed by the Supreme Court to submit its position and to join the hearing, being the Appointed Authority who is in charge on behalf of the State on the construction and operation of the road.
In a judgment dated May 17, 2022 the Supreme Court reversed the certifying decision and dismissed the class action, weighing among other things considerations raised by our client, the Appointed Authority, including that a technical breach of contractual obligation, in a B.O.T major national project, and while the public is not harmed, does not justify a class action, in view of potential negative effects on the state’s engagements in additional B.O.T projects as well as the public wider interests.
