A decision by a municipality, a government ministry, a planning committee, a regulator or a public body may affect a business licence, the award of a tender, an appointment, a permit, a professional right or the ability to continue operating. Where a decision was taken without authority, without a fair process, or on improper grounds, administrative law provides the means to have it changed or set aside.
In many cases the work begins before any application to the court. A hearing, an objection, an appeal or an early approach to the authority may change the decision, or build the foundation for a petition filed later. How the arguments are framed, what factual record supports them and when action is taken all matter.
Ilan Bombach & Co. represents the Prime Minister, government ministers, public figures across the political spectrum, local authorities and their heads, public bodies, non-profits, companies and international corporations in complex administrative and regulatory proceedings.
The firm is consistently ranked in the top tier for administrative law by Israel's leading legal directories, with particular strength in local government, regulation, licensing, public tenders and public crisis management.
What we handle
- Administrative petitions against state authorities: proceedings against government ministries, regulators, agencies and governmental bodies in cases of excess of authority, denial of the right to be heard, unreasonableness, discrimination, extraneous considerations and material defects in the decision-making process.
- Local authorities and local government: representation of municipalities, councils and their heads on questions of eligibility, local elections, appointments, budgeting and relations with government ministries.
- Public tenders: representation of bidders, companies and authorities in complex tender disputes.
- Licensing, permits and regulatory arrangements: proceedings before licensing and supervisory bodies, licence revocation, professional committees, and any case where an administrative decision restricts freedom of occupation.
- Disciplinary law in regulated professions: representation of doctors, lawyers, accountants and other licence-holders before disciplinary and appeals committees.
- Planning, infrastructure and dealings with authorities: planning committees, objections, hearings and disputes with local and national authorities.
- Review committees, commissions of inquiry and public crisis management: representation of public bodies and senior figures in proceedings where the administrative dimension also carries public or media risk.
More than three decades of experience
The firm is led by Ilan Bombach, one of Israel's leading litigators, with more than 30 years in practice and many hundreds of appearances before the Supreme Court.
He has represented the Government of Israel and Knesset committees in major constitutional and administrative proceedings, including the petitions concerning the amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary and the reasonableness doctrine. Those petitions were heard by a full panel of all fifteen justices then serving on the Supreme Court.
Part of the firm's strength in administrative law stems from Ilan Bombach's own experience in public office and on decision-making bodies. He serves as Deputy Chair of the Central Elections Committee and has previously served as Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Israel Bar's Tel Aviv and Central District, acting head of the National Road Safety Authority, a member of the advisory committee for judicial appointments, and chair of various appeals committees.
These roles gave him direct familiarity with how public bodies operate, how decisions are reached within them and the institutional considerations that guide them. That experience helps identify which arguments should be put to an authority, at what stage, and when there is no alternative to placing the dispute before judicial review.
Personal involvement from the first approach to the authority
In an administrative matter the foundation for a petition is sometimes laid at the very first approach. An argument not put to the authority in time, a document not attached, or delay in acting can narrow the options available to the client later.
Ilan Bombach personally leads the substantive stages — from examining the decision and the legal framework governing it, through early approaches, objections, appeals and hearings, to filing an administrative petition or a petition to the High Court of Justice where that becomes necessary.
