Ettinger Estate v. Jewish Quarter Company

Facts: The late Michael Ettinger died after falling into an unfenced pit at an archaeological site located near a playground in the Old City of Jerusalem. He was twelve years old. The appellants, his estate and family, sued the respondents for compensation in the District Court. The main issue considered in the Supreme Court on appeal was whether the estate was entitled to compensation for loss of the deceased’s earning capacity in the ‘lost years’ — the years of working life that the deceased lost because he died as a result of the respondents’ negligence. This issue had been considered more than twenty years earlier, in Estate of Sharon Gavriel v. Gavriel, where the majority held that legislation was required to allow an award of compensation for loss of earning capacity in the ‘lost years.’ But no legislation to this effect had been enacted in the interim.A second issue that was considered in the appeal was whether the respondents should have been found liable to pay punitive damages.Held: The time had come to reconsider the issue of compensation for loss of earning capacity in the ‘lost years.’ The Supreme Court held that:Where a person suffers a reduction of life expectancy as a result of a tortious act, he is entitled to compensation for the loss of earning capacity in the ‘lost years.’Where a person dies as a result of a tortious act, his claim to compensation for the loss of earning capacity in the ‘lost years’ passes to his estate. If the deceased has dependants who are awarded compensation for loss of support in the ‘lost years,’ this compensation is deducted from the compensation payable to the estate for loss of the deceased’s earning capacity in the ‘lost years,’ to prevent double liability being imposed on the tortfeasor.The Supreme Court left undecided the question of whether Israeli courts have the power to award punitive damages, since the facts of this case did not warrant an award of punitive damages in any case.