| In the Supreme Court |
Appeal Petition/Administrative Claim 23432-11-24
| Before: | Honorable Vice President Noam Sohlberg
The Honorable Judge David Mintz The Honorable Judge Yechiel Kasher
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| The Appellant: | Metro Motor Marketing (1981) Ltd. | |
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Against
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| Respondent: | Ministry of Transport and Road Safety – Vehicle and Maintenance Services Division | |
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Appeal against the judgment of the Administrative Affairs Court in Tel Aviv-Jaffa (Judge K. Vardi) dated October 28, 2024 in administrative petition 10550-06-24
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| Date of Meeting: | 28 Tishrei 5786 (October 20, 2025)
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| On behalf of the Appellant:
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Adv. Giora Erdinast | |
| On behalf of the Respondent: | Adv. Daniel Marks; Adv. Maya Zippin
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| Judgment
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Judge David Mintz:
Appeal against the judgment of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Court of Administrative Affairs (Judge K. Vardi) of October 28, 2024 in the petition Administrative 10550-06-24, in which the Appellant's petition against the Respondent's decision in the applications she filed for the renewal of direct importer licenses for vehicles was rejected.
The Normative Framework
- Before we turn to the description of the dispute that is the subject of the appeal before us, and in order for the reader's eyes to wander in reading the judgment, we will preface a few words regarding the normative framework required for the matter.
- In 2016, the Licensing of Services and Professions in the Automotive Industry Law, 5776-2016 (hereinafter: the Licensing Law or the Law) was enacted. This law is intended to regulate all services and occupations in the automotive industry, in order to ensure an appropriate professional level of service providers, maintain vehicle and public safety, promote competition in the automotive industry, consumer protection, and more (section 1 of the law). The law was born out of a desire to anchor in primary legislation the arrangements that had been detailed up to that time in various supervision orders, while establishing new and updated provisions, inter alia, in view of the changes that have taken place in the automotive industry (explanatory notes to the Vehicle Services Licensing Bill, 5773-2013, H.H. 769, 770 (hereinafter: the bill)). The law also included the recommendations of the "Public Committee for Increasing Competitiveness in the Automotive Industry", which examined the competitiveness in the industry and recommended taking steps to lower prices and raise the level of service to the consumer public ().
- The Ottoman Settlement [Old Version] 1916 The starting point of the law, which is enshrined in sections 3-4 thereof, is that a person shall not provide a vehicle service (including the import of vehicles), and a person shall not engage in a profession in the automotive industry, unless he has received a license from the "Director" to provide that service as defined in section 2 of the Law (Deputy Director General of Traffic at the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety; hereinafter: the Manager). The validity of a license granted by the Director is generally 6 years (section 7 of the Law), after which the license holder who wishes to do so is required to submit an application for its renewal. An application for the granting and renewal of a license is governed by section 5 of the Law, which provides as follows:
12-34-56-78 Chekhov v. State of Israel, P.D. 51 (2)