AMENDMENT TO THE EXECUTION RULES FOR BETTER LAW ENFORCEMENT

#54Amendment to the Execution Rules for better law enforcement

The Ministry of Justice proposes in the amendment to Act No. 233/1995 Coll. Of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on Bailiffs and Enforcement Activities (Execution Rules) and on Amendments to other Acts (hereinafter referred to as the “Execution Rules”) to introduce new enforcement measures to enforce the obligations of those who ignore court decisions and do not fulfill their obligations. The measures should help in the future in cases such as the famous Singing House in Štúrovo, or in cases of buildings that were to be removed by a court decision, but are still standing. Failure to comply with the court decision may deprive the person of a driver's license, or the use of his or her belongings may be blocked and made impossible.

The content of the amendment is in line with the program statement of the government, which has committed itself to improving access to justice by focusing on improving the enforcement of claims. The amendment is intended to streamline and speed up the enforceability of claims in execution proceedings conducted mainly for the satisfaction of rights to non-monetary benefits.

The amendment to the Execution Rules envisages the introduction of four basic enforcement measures, which are: a fine, the withholding of a driving license, the withholding of a vehicle registration certificate and the use of technical means preventing the use of the item. It also stipulates that coercive measures should be proportionate to the obligation enforced and also that they may be imposed side by side with the exception of a fine, as no coercive measure may be imposed in addition to the fine. The choice of coercive measure will be at the discretion of the executor. However, he may not impose them arbitrarily, but only where the Execution Rules provide.

The executor also has the right to impose a fine or disciplinary fine in the sense of the valid law, i.e. this institute is not a novelty. In practice, however, it turned out that its height was not deterrent and the impose process was relatively lengthy. Fine as the coercive measure will therefore be able to be imposed directly by the bailiff directly up to the amount of 30,000,- € . In the case of a legal entity, a fine of up to 10% of its turnover for the previous accounting period, up to a maximum of 50,000,- €. It should also be possible to impose a coercive measure on a legal person on members of its statutory body.

The withholding of a driving license, the withholding of a vehicle registration certificate and the use of technical means preventing the use of the item may be imposed if the income of the person to whom such enforcement is to be imposed is not directly conditioned by possession of a driving license or vehicle (for example, that the taxi driver does not lose his driving or technical license from the car he uses in the course of his business).

In order not to penalize, the detention of a driving license, vehicle registration certificates as well as the use of technical means to prevent the use of a thing should, according to the proposal, be limited to a maximum of twelve months. However, in the event of non-compliance, the coercive measures in question may be imposed repeatedly.

These changes could, in the sense of proposed proposal, take effect from 1st January, 2023.