Securing future or pending claim in another
country
The general understanding among commercial entities is that when a non-performing party is situated in another country or has assets there, enforcement or even a judial proceedure is hard, costly and with low chances of success. This is a serious misconception that limits the will to enforce payment when a
transnational element is present. Below we will briefly review the different options of securing a future or pending claim in a different country, as method to ensure enforceability of a future court or arbitrage ruling.
Three different legal acts contain the principle procedures for securing future or pending claims. These are the IPLC (International private law codex) and two EU regulation – 1215/2012 and 655/2014.
IPLC will be generally applicable when the assets, seat of registration and etc. are not located in a country member to the EU. Both IPLC contain explicit provisions for their respective applicability which are somewhat complex and would not be reviewed in detail here.
In the majority of cases where the assets and seats of the parties are located in the EU the above regulations will be applicable. As a general rule procedures under the regulations are lighter than those govern by international law. For example court ruling rendered by a court in the EU for enforcement of security measures are directly applicable in another EU country without an additional procedure. This is not the case when security measures are requested under IPLC.
In most cases the competent court is the one where the assets are located or where the defendant has its registered seat. In some cases the decision where to lodge the application for security measures is placed solely on the applicant.
The measures envisioned by Regulation 655/2014 however require a pending court proceeding to be implemented. The application therefore can be submitted only before the court deliberating on the initial procedure. If an enforcement writ for security measures is issued it should have a direct effect in the country wherein the assets are located. A number of particularities are to be observed. The issuing court is bound by the legislation of the target state as it pertains to security measures and entities enforcing them. For example in the Republic of Bulgaria security measures and enforcement procedure are implemented by a Private or State enforcers.
IPLC and Reg. 1215 allow implementation of all measures pursuant to the local legislation. That being said the application for the measures implementation must be motivated and the measures themselves must be commensurate to the infringed rights.
655/2014 however allows only the implementation of preservation order – securing for example monetary receivables in banks. This significantly limits the applicability of this procedure.
All of the above procedure require drafting of a specialized application. Which in part requires knowledge of the respective legal system the security measures available the civil court procedures and many additional particulars. In brief it is highly recommend for the application to be drafted and administrated by an experienced lawyer.
The implementation of transnational security measures in relation to a future or a pending claim in either of the reviewed above cases is a complex procedure, which however might prove paramount in preserving the possibility of enforcement of receivables or other assets. If you are preparing to file a claim against an entity located in Republic Bulgaria, or if you are already participating in such it is pertinent to engage into a procedure for implementation of security measures.
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The above legal brief was drafted by Attorney at Law Yuli Stoynov. Attorney at Law Stoynov has more than ten years of experience in the field of commecial and company law, as he has represented and consulted a broad range of international and local companies.
In the event that you require a consult, you can reach Attorney at law Yuli Stoynov using the following link.