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Enforcement of a Court Decision in Czech Republic

Enforcement of a Court Decision in Czech Republic

In The Czech Republic, the enforcement of a Court decision is governed by the Law 99/1963.

The Court or private executors can put into effect a legitimate court judgments and arbitration awards for unpaid debts.

This debt enforcement procedure consists of two main parts: identification of the executor (a court or a private) that will be in charged for the case, usually chosen at the suggestion of the creditor and the enforcement proceedings that can go further only with a specific document – the motion.   

The motion, known also as execution title, is issued by the Court and it is a mandatory document the creditor needs to initiate this phase of debt collection.   

When the debtor does not comply with the payment specified by the execution title, the entitled party may also request a motion for an execution warrant.

As mentioned before, in the Czech Republic there are two types of authorities who have the right to start the debt enforcement: public authority – a judge and a private authority – bailiffs. This condition is justified by the state’s decision to move from one status to another, Czech still being in a transition period.

After obtaining the motion and choosing an executor, there can be made further procedures in order to collect the debts from the debtor.

The Code of Civil Procedure provided that the creditor cannot dispose of his debt once an enforcement decision has been issued. A decision is enforced when the resolution ordering enforcement has taken legal effect – once the debtor pays to the creditor the sum mentioned by the enforcement order. The effect of this ruling is that the creditor loses entitlement to the claim put on the debtor and the sum representing the debt has to be paid to the entitled party.

The enforcement proceedings can be started only at the creditor request, by filing a motion, meaning that this procedure is governed by the “disposition principle”. The Code of Civil Procedure also sets out that the creditor can fill a motion for judicial enforcement of the decision, when the debtor does not comply with the requirement specified in the enforceable decision.

This decision always comes in the form of a judicial resolution and during the enforcing of the decision this procedure cannot be suspended.  Also the observance of the time limits must be respected, as these may not be waived and there cannot be initiated the renewing of the procedure.

The Court fees are regulated by the Act No 549/1991 on court fees, as amended. These taxes are calculated for the entire proceeding or for each individual stage of proceedings and the obligation to pay comes from the beginning of the procedure, once the motion is submitted.   

The Law also stipulates some exemption from court fees, this measure being applied only in duly justified cases.

In the case of fees for proceedings, the obligation to pay arises when the action is lodged or another motion is submitted for the commencement of proceedings.

A mentioned in the beginning, the creditor may lodge a motion for an execution warrant when the debtor does not voluntary complies with the measures imposed by the execution title. The execution proceedings start on the day of the receiving an execution warrant by the executor in charge of the case and he needs the authorization of the Court to commence execution.

The execution proceedings cannot be suspended. However, the Law provides that the Insolvency and Composition Act make exception to the proceeding.

In this case, a declaration of insolvency produces effects on the debtor’s assets or claims – the proceedings are stopped when an insolvent debtor is a party concerning claims on assets that are part of the insolvent debtor’s assets or claims which should be satisfied from those assets. This measure is taken unless they are criminal proceedings.

An except to this case happens when the administrator or another part to the proceedings fill a motion, situation in which the administrator becomes a party of the proceeding instead of the insolvent debtor.

The observance of time limits and filling a motion for renewal the proceeding are not possible.

The Civil Code provides that a warrant of execution and an enforcement order have the same effects and the appeal against this ruling is not possible.

In an regulation issued by the Ministry of Justice (no 330/2001) there are specified the fees owed to the judicial executor, fees which may or may not be stipulated in the contract and usually calculated as a percentage of the satisfaction achieved or at a fixed rate for cases involving non-pecuniary execution.

The average time for monies enforcement is several weeks, for movable goods few months and for immobile goods the period can take one year or more, depending on the course of case.