They can improve the business climate in the country by paying back the lion's share of debt.
There are only 200 of them, but they have already secured the execution of more than 80% of the judgments they have entrusted. They started work two years ago, but today are three times more efficient than government contractors who have been working for decades. And yet, until recently, the state has been more distracting than helping them. It's about private performers. This profession emerged in Ukraine as a result of the reform of the legal system by EU standards: private contractors have been working there for a long time and successfully. Does the new profession have a chance to help improve the economy of Ukraine - told us international expert of the EU's Justice-Justice Project Katilin Popov.
Why was it decided to introduce a system of private performers in Ukraine?
Since 2015, European Union experts have tried to improve the performance of the system of public enforcers, but this has not led to anything.
This is confirmed by the long history of the existence of the State Enforcement Service: in 2017, 5-6% of court decisions were enforced in Ukraine, while in the EU countries this figure was ten times higher. Meanwhile, if judicial decisions are not enforced, then the very fact of the law is in question. And this creates the illusion of impunity in the country.
Therefore, it was decided to introduce a system of private execution of sentences. Private contractors do not receive salaries from the state, but profits from their work. And personally interested in law enforcement. For Ukraine, the profession was completely new.
Who came into this system and how well it works?
Initially, state agents came into the system. And it is no accident: they have experience. Then, private executors became lawyers, many of them former lawyers of banks and businesses. Those who have entered the system are already successful: they have ensured 88% of court decisions.
However, in general, European experts are dissatisfied with the results of the introduction of a new profession: it is not easy to become a private executor in Ukraine, the legislative framework for their work is imperfect, that is, often there are no rules of the game. In addition, by the beginning of this year, supervisory authorities, including the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, were openly obstructing the work of private contractors.
Because of this, the introduction of a new profession has become a formality: private contractors do not have the right to do their jobs effectively and therefore their own businesses.
What does it take to improve the performance of private contractors?
First, you need to fully automate the system of entry into the profession. Now only the first two stages are automated, and the third one involves the evaluation of the candidate by the commission. At the same time there is a high risk of subjectivity and discredit of worthy candidates.
The next step is to remove administrative barriers. Now the candidate has to pass a training course worth 6000 UAH before the exams. Then he is required to complete the practice. And only then the exam.
We offer training and practice to pass after the exam. Then the person will be sure that he will work as a private contractor, and will be able to spend money and time without fear.
How many private contractors are there in Ukraine?
We offer training and practice to pass after the exam. Then the person will be sure that he will work as a private contractor, and will be able to spend money and time without fear.
Today only 200 work. It is very small. After all, state performers more than 22 times - only 4500. And the number of private performers is weak. In order for more people to enter the profession, it is also necessary for private contractors to expand their powers and reduce state control.
Today, the Disciplinary Commission, which recruits people into the profession and regulates the activities of executors, is at the disposal of the Ministry of Justice. EU experts propose to bring it out of the control of the Ministry of Justice and subordinate it to an independent body - the Association of Private Performers. We do not propose to change the composition of the commission: half of the representatives of the Ministry of Justice are there, and another 50% are private contractors.
The next step is the development of self-government and direct democracy in the association. Today, the management system is very backward and involves any decision making through regional representatives. Such a mechanism is not needed to unite 200 people.
We also want that in Ukraine equal to the mandate of private and public executors. Private contractors should be allowed to collect debt from the state and state-owned enterprises.
And also allow private contractors to evict. And to impose a ban on departure of the debtor abroad.
What prevents private contractors from working as full-fledged businessmen?
In order to work more efficiently and profit, you need to expand the authority and assistants of private contractors. Assistants should have the right to sign documents, describe property, and block accounts. So far, only private performers have such rights. And they lack the time to process more requests and clients.
In order to work more effectively, it is necessary to partially change the principles of taxation: to make it similar to taxation of lawyers. While contractors can only work on their own, they need to be able to unite and form bureaus, as do lawyers, and to work as an association.
But in order for the state to really feel an increase in the amount of debt repaid, it is necessary to end the “stop-lists”: a moratorium on collecting money from non-public bans. And we are already working with the new government to change the system.
And will private contractors be able to pay back arrears of wages or alimony?
In order to work more efficiently and profit, you need to expand the authority and assistants of private contractors.
While it is not profitable to deal with such small requests, private contractors are paid 10% of their debt, so at times they may receive up to a maximum of UAH 10,000 in remuneration. And the cost of repayment of such debt requires such as the collection of a much larger amount: the same administrative actions - registration, search, arrest - must be carried out.
However, such work should be one of the foundations of private contractors' activity: it is the sheer number of quickly repaid small debts that increases the resonance in society, and with it the responsibility of debtors. Therefore, we suggest that you enter a fixed amount to pay for any work by private contractors, and then, for larger defaults, add a percentage of the debt to it.
At what time can these changes be implemented?
Right now, the central government is asking European experts what exactly needs to be improved in the legal field. And for three months now we have been working on a package of laws together with a business association, a council of business ombudsmen, the National Association of Banks of Ukraine, and the Office of the President of Ukraine. We want to prepare the final documents at the end of October.
We plan to hand over a package of documents to the new government in early November. All these changes should be approved at the Verkhovna Rada level.
Where is Europe's most successful reform of the enforcement service?
The most successful examples are the Baltic States in the 1990s and the Balkans in the mid-2000s.
In the "old" Europe, the problems with the enforcement of court decisions are not long ago, but it is quite expensive service. But it is this that shapes the behavior of both creditors and debtors, making them more responsible in financial transactions.
Source: nv.ua
(translated using Google translator)