The enforcement procedure needs to be more effective and guarantee the protection of creditors, and the courts must show greater responsibility in enforcement, especially regarding the resolution of enforcement procedures within a reasonable timeframe, are the main conclusions of the expert meeting on the topic ‘The Role of Public Commissioners in the Enforcement of Movable Property’ held today at the Croatian Chamber of Economy.
The meeting gathered all those involved in the enforcement process (judges, creditors, commissioners, entrepreneurs), and discussed a new institute in the Enforcement Act that allows for the delegation of the sale of movable property seized in enforcement proceedings to a public commissioner, whose tasks are organized and carried out by the Croatian Chamber of Economy, specifically its Department for the Organization of Public Commissioner Affairs. The President of the Supreme Court, Branko Hrvatin, assessed the mentioned legislative amendment as one of the most significant for the enforcement process, as only effective enforcement, he stated, guarantees full protection and realization of creditors’ rights in enforcement proceedings. He evaluated that the enforcement process has not yet proven effective, especially in cases where movable property is the subject of enforcement. Last year, there were about 98,000 such cases, and enforcement was successfully carried out in only 6,000 of them.
However, Hrvatin believes that the legislative amendment regarding public commissioners should increase the effectiveness of the enforcement procedure, and he stated that the role of the courts is crucial in ensuring the resolution of cases within a reasonable timeframe (the practice of European courts is to resolve cases within a period of up to three years). He added that there is also significant responsibility on the state to ensure an effective system for the enforcement of court judgments related to enforcement, and public commissioners must ensure that they do not compromise this new institute and carry out their work as professionally as possible. The President of the High Commercial Court, Srđan Štimac, also assessed the current enforcement process as insufficiently effective because, he says, under previous laws and practices, the debtor was the most protected party, not the creditor. Štimac stated that the courts did not devote enough attention to enforcement, that some judges underestimated it, but such practices, he emphasized, are changing significantly. He cited as the greatest advantage of the recent legislative changes that creditors are placed in a more favorable position compared to debtors, and the sale of seized real estate in enforcement will be conducted by public commissioners according to a clearly defined procedure. The meeting was welcomed by the President of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Nadan Vidošević, who also emphasized the importance of the enforcement process, especially in the economy. (H)
