Enforcement proceedings get underway

Complainee: Ministry of Justice of Ukraine (MinJust), State Enforcement Service in Poltava (SES)
Complaint in brief: The Council received a complaint from an enterprise providing engineering, geology, and geodesy services. The company complained about inaction of the State Enforcement Service. Last year, the court declared the complainant bankrupt and initiated liquidation procedure. As part of the bankruptcy case, the insolvency officer (liquidator) of the company appealed to the court and asked to declare car sale and purchase agreement concluded with the counterparty invalid. The court declared the agreement invalid and ordered the contracting company to return the property received under the agreement before liquidation of the enterprise to the complainant. However, three months after initiating enforcement proceedings, the SES neither performed any actions, nor announced the search for vehicles in accordance with the liquidator’s motion. The Council started investigating the complainant’s case.
Actions taken: After analyzing the circumstances of the complaint, the investigator found malpractice signs in the SES inaction. The Council recommended that the MinJust and the SES immediately consider the insolvency officer’s motion and issue an order to search for the car. The investigator noted that according to Art. 36 of the Law of Ukraine “On Enforcement Proceedings”, in case of necessity of search of the debtor’s vehicle, the executor issues an order on such search being mandatory for enforcement by police. In particular, the Council’s investigator stressed the importance of meeting reasonable time frames for enforcement proceedings, publicity and openness as required by law.
Result achieved: The MinJust and the SES accepted the Council’s recommendations and announced a search for the complainant’s property under the invalid sale. The case was closed.