If in 2017, more than three thousand executive documents were received in the amount of UAH 716 million, then in the first half of 2018 alone, the number of documents reached almost 12 thousand for UAH 5.7 billion.
With the introduction of the institute of private executives [1] and the beginning of the work of the first specialists in 2017, Ukraine today has a mixed system of enforcement of judicial decisions, which numbers 125 private and about 4,500 state performers. Despite their small number, private performers are already a significant competitor to the public service, because they perform quickly and efficiently. In 2017, private executives returned UAH 57.6 million to creditors in 269 cases, and in the first half of this year, the amount of returns rose to UAH 915 million in 2.2 thousand cases.
The results and perspectives of the work of private executives were discussed by the participants of the conference “The current state of implementation of court decisions. Results of reforming the system of enforcement proceedings in Odessa on October 25. The event was organized by the EU Law-Justice Project to support reforms in the justice sector in Ukraine, together with the South-Western Economic Court of Appeal with the support of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Council of Private Executives of the Executive District of Odessa Region and the Association of Judges of Economic Courts of Ukraine.
The reform of the enforcement process is carried out as one of the main directions in the implementation of the Strategy for the Reform of the Judicial System, Judicial Proceedings and Related Legal Institutions for 2015-2020 and in accordance with the standards and best practices of the European Union.
According to the Ministry of Justice, until 2017 the average level of enforcement of court decisions was only 5-6%, while in the EU countries this figure reaches 50-70%.
“Reforming the enforcement system creates the foundation for judicial decisions to be implemented in a timely manner. After all, if the judicial system works, and the court decision is executed, only then the right of citizens and legal entities to the court is protected. As practice has shown in other European countries, the privatization of the service of execution is the only way to effectively solve chronic problems in Ukraine with the payment of debts amounting to almost 20 billion euros, which the European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly drawn attention to. The government, which does not pay its debts to citizens, not only does not respect the rule of law - it does not have the moral authority to demand responsibility and accountability from the private sector, ”said Dovidas Vitkauskas, head of the EU Right-Justice project.
Statistics of the Ministry of Justice testifies to the growth of confidence in the institution of private performers. If in 2017, 3.4 thousand executive documents were received in the amount of 716 million UAH, then in the first half of 2018 alone, the number of documents reached 11.8 thousand for 5.7 billion UAH. Another important advantage of private contractors for lenders is the speed of completion of the collection. Instead of a lengthy process of refund of funds by the state service, a private executor can in some cases complete the work in 3 days.
Privatization of the service of executing court decisions corresponds to the general trend in the EU, where this system is widespread. Most of the new member countries of the European Union, thanks to the transition to a new format or a combination of the work of private and state performers, quickly strengthened the rule of law. Some countries, such as Serbia, which first used the mixed system, eventually turned to private as more efficient. Bulgaria, for example, uses a mixed system in which the sphere of competence of private and state actors is the same, with the former demonstrating greater efficiency in their work. According to the Ministry of Justice, it was planned to increase the number of private performers to 800 by the end of 2018, and in total to at least 3,000.
At the same time, the conference participants also discussed the factors constraining the active development of the institute of private performers. So, it is still an open question to equalize the competences of public services and private performers, although it was planned to approach its solution this year. The professional community is concerned about the low level of access to the profession - for the first 9 months of 2018, the certificate of a private executor received units instead of 800 declared. And among the issues that require regulatory settlement are the consolidated proceedings, interaction with the State Fiscal Service, the question of receiving the basic remuneration by the private executor and the work of the Disciplinary Commission.
In the Odessa region today there are 7 private performers and about 100 state. According to the Council of Private Performers of the Odessa region, if an average of 1 state performer submits to auction 2 lots or bids for the sale of property of debtors, then the indicator of private performers is 9 lots per performer. In total, about 200-300 executive documents are on the execution of each individual specialist. According to information provided by the Odessa branch of the electronic trading system for the seized property of CETAM, for three months (from July 24 to October 24) private performers submitted 25% of the total number of applications for sale.
“Today, there are almost no complaints addressed to us by the claimants, that is, those who demand the restoration of their rights and the return of the debt under the law. In my opinion, this is the best indicator of work efficiency, because usually appeals from the collector relate to untimely actions (slow work) or inaction of performers. In addition, we always try to convince the debtor and the recoverer to negotiate a settlement, which is beneficial to all parties, ”said Georgy Parfyonov, Chairman of the Council of Private Performers of the Odessa Region.
A large-scale conference on reforming the enforcement system marked the beginning of the work of the Odessa Regional Reform Council in the field of justice, the first meeting of which was held on October 24. The EU Justice-Justice project initiated the creation of the Council in cooperation with the South-Western Economic Court of Appeal, the Ministry of Justice, relevant institutions and local experts to strengthen the systemic work on the implementation of justice reforms in the regions and implement the bottom-up reform.
After the conference, the Odessa Regional Reform Council in the field of justice will continue its work on discussing the monitoring of the implementation of the Civil and Economic Procedural Codes and preparing a questionnaire to monitor the results of the introduction of the institute of private performers.
About the EU Justice-Justice Project
The Justice Justice project supports reforms in the justice sector, including reloading the judiciary through the selection and evaluation of judges, restructuring the judicial administration, the creation of private services and probation, the creation of electronic registers and the strengthening of property rights. The partners of the Project are the High Council of Justice, the Ministry of Justice, the High Qualifications Commission of Judges, the Supreme Court, the Notary Chamber and other institutions of justice.The European Union's Law-Justice project is a continuation of the EU project “Support for Justice Reforms in Ukraine”, implemented in 2014–2017. With the assistance of the Project, a Council on Judicial Reform was created under the Presidential Administration, a Justice Reform Strategy and an Action Plan were developed to implement the provisions of the Strategy 2015-2020.
[1] Private executors - persons authorized by the state to enforce judicial decisions in the manner prescribed by law. The activities of private executives are regulated by the laws of Ukraine "On the bodies and persons carrying out the enforcement of judicial decisions and decisions of other bodies" and "On the enforcement proceedings." The Ministry of Justice oversees their activities through scheduled and unscheduled inspections, including on the basis of written statements of one of the participants in the enforcement proceedings regarding the actions or inaction of a private executive. Also in Ukraine, the Association of Private Performers operates, which unites all members of the profession and helps in regulating their activities.
Source: Forensic Newspaper in Ukraine
(translated using google translate)