Upcoming Changes In Enforcement Proceedings

It was expected that this article would analyse the effects of the recent amendment to the Enforcement Procedure and Interim Protection Act and its new obligatory electronic filling regime on enforcement proceedings in Slovenia. But the effects of the amendments are still not clear.

Introduction

On 15 June 2010, the Slovenian legislator adopted a further amendment to the Enforcement Procedure and Interim Protection Act (Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o izvrabi in zavarovanju; ZIZ-H). One goal of ZIZ-H was to provide further options for electronic filing of motions in enforcement proceedings. ZIZ-H was seen as a substantial improvement in the effectiveness of the enforcement proceeding, saving time and reducing costs for creditors and the courts. It required attorneys, notaries, enforcement officers, and the State Attorney's Office to file all motions in electronic form. Otherwise, their motions would be dismissed without the possibility of correction or supplementation.

Before the new regime enters into force, the Ministry of Justice must adopt the necessary implementing regulation defining in detail: (i) the types of enforcement proceedings in which motions can be filed electronically, (ii) the parties in enforcement proceedings who can file motions electronically, (iii) the manner of identification of such parties, (iv) the motions that can be filed electronically, and (v) the course of such enforcement proceedings. Pursuant to ZIZ-H, the implementing regulation should have been adopted immediately upon fulfilment of the necessary technical requirements, but no later than 1 September 2011. Further, the Ministry of Justice should have issued a decision specifying the date on which the new obligatory electronic filing regime enters into force.

Current status of the upcoming changes

1 September 2011 has come and gone, but the Ministry of Justice has still not adopted the necessary implementing regulation or issued a decision on the date of the new regime's entry into force. The last available information provided to the Slovene Bar Association is that the implementing regulation should be adopted in December 2011 and the obligatory electronic filing regime should enter into force on 1 February or 1 March 2012. Hence, the scope of the changes is still not clear and the implementation of the modernised, more effective...