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8.3. MODES OF DEBT RELIEF FOR CONSUMERS IN POLAND
Adamus Rafaf, prof. UO dr hab., professor of University of Opole, Department of Commercial and Tax Law.
ORCID: 0000-0003-4968-459X
Work place: University of Opole, Poland
adamus_rafal@wp.pl
Annotation: Consumer bankruptcy has been functioning in the Polish legal system since 2008. The serious amendment to the provisions on consumer bankruptcy made by the Act of 30 August 2019 amending the Act - Bankruptcy Law and some other acts (Journal of Laws 2019 item 1802) will certainly have a significant impact on the remarkable increase in the number of bankruptcy cases. Insolvency of natural persons - consumers is a typical social phenomenon, which has a very different background. It can be caused by a sudden change in the life situation related to e.g. deterioration of health, loss of a well-paid job, divorce, death of a spouse, termination of unformal relationship with a partner. Many people are the victims of a culture of consumption, etc. Some debtors have become insolvent because they are the victims of some sort of a life trap, guarantee of someone else's debt, fraud, unsuccessful investment, etc. Gambling, alcoholism and drug addiction are the driving forces of insolvency. A relatively large group of debtors are former entrepreneurs and former members of management boards responsible for the obligations of a capital company. Because the reasons for insolvency are different, legal systems limit the possibility of debt relief only for debtors who meet certain criteria of payment morality. This short study refers only to legal aspects related to debt relief under consumer bankruptcy in Poland.
Keywords: bankruptcy, insolvency, consumer, debt relief
MODES OF DEBT RELIEF FOR AN INSOLVENT NATURAL PERSON THROUGH CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY AND CONSUMER ARRANGEMENT
The entire legal structure of consumer bankruptcy in Poland1, recently amended by the Act August 30, 2019, is subordinated to the
1 R. Adamus, Consumer bankruptcy in Poland, International and Comparative Law Review, Olomouc 2011, vol. 11, no. 2, p. 107 - 120; E. Catus, Upadtosc konsumencka - doswiadczenia i perspektywy, Acta Universitatis Wratislavientis, No 3644, Przeglqd Prawa i Administracji, Wroctaw 2015, p. 11; J. Podczaszy, Quo vadis homo debitor - rozwazania na temat prawnego uregulowania upadtosci konsumenckiej, Edukacja Prawnicza 2011, No 4; J. Podczaszy, Instytucja upadtosci konsumenckiej jako warunek utrzymania systemu spoteczno - gospodarczego opartego na dtugu, Przegl^d Prawa Publicznego 2017, No 9, p. 61; J. Podczaszy, Wspotczesny homo consumens jako homo debitor - instytycja upadtosci konsumenckiej w dobie kryzysu finansowego gospodarstw domowych, Przedsi^biorczosc i Zarz^dzanie, todz-Warszawa 2015, vol. XVI, no. 8, part. II, p. 261 P. Horosz, Upadtosc konsumencka w prawie polskim, in: K. Koj, J. Szostak (editors),Wspotczesna ekonomia wobec zatamania koniunktury gospodarczej, Zeszyty Naukowe Wydziatu Zamiejscowego w Chorzowie Wyzszej Szkoty Bankowej w Poznaniu 2013, No 15, p. 195; M. Kuznik, Konsumencka zdolnosc upadtosciowa, Studia Ekonomiczne. Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Katowicach, No 240, 2015, p. 34. A.J. Witosz, Plan sptaty wierzycieli w upadtosci konsumenckiej, Monitor Prawniczy 2010, No 10, p. 584; K. Michalak, Ogtoszenie upadtosci osob fizycznych nie prowadz^cych dziatalnosci gospodarczej na podstawie znowelizowanej ustawy Prawo upadtosciowe i naprawcze, Transformacje Prawa Prywatnego 2009, No 3-4, p. 67; A. Witosz, Przeksztatcenie przedsi^biorcy jednoosobowego w jednoosobowq spotk^ kapitatowq a problem zdolnosci upadtosciowej, Przegl^d Prawa Handlowego 2013, no 4, p. 4; A.J. Witosz, Likwidacja wtasna masy upadtosci przez konsumenta, Monitor Prawniczy 2009, No 19; A. J. Witosz, Skutki prawne upadtosci wspolnika spotki osobowej, Przegl^d Prawa Handlowego 2014, No 4, p. 8; W. Gtodowski, A. Hrycaj, Post^powanie w przedmiocie ogtoszenia upadtosci konsumenckiej, Ruch Prawniczy Ekonomiczny i Spoteczny 2011, No 3, p. 113; W. Gtodowski, Zakres podmiotowy i podstawy ogtoszenia „upadtosci konsumenckiej", Panstwo i Prawo 2010, No 2, p. 70; O. Zachmielewska, Upadtosc konsumencka w swietle domniemania racjonalnosci ustawodawcy, Panstwo i Prawo 2010, p. 96 R. Adamus, A.J. Witosz, A. Witosz, Upadtosc konsumencka. Komentarz praktyczny, Warszawa 2009; R. Adamus, Wierzytelnosci banku w upadtosci konsumenckiej, Jurysta 2009, No 3-4, p. 41; R. Adamus, Bank wobec upadtosci konsumenckiej swojego dtuznika, Monitor Prawa Bankowego 2011, No 2, p. 53; R. Adamus, Likwidacja masy upadtosci. Zagadnienia praktyczne, Warszawa 2014, p. 22; B. Swiecka (editor), Bankructwa gospodarstw domowych. Perspektywa ekonomiczna i spoteczna, Warszawa 2008, K. Falkiewicz, K. Dopierata, Wady ustawy o upadtosci konsumenckiej, Fenix.Pl 2013, No 2, p. 22 i n., A. Bunk, V. Lichter, M. Pietrzak, Upadtosc konsumencka w Niemczech, Fenix.Pl, 2011, No 4, p. 29; M. Chajda, M. Skwarzynski, Upadtosc konsumencka tworcy, in: Wtasnosc
debt relief of an insolvent natural person. In accordance with Article 2 section 2 B.L.2 proceedings governed by the Act on natural persons should also be conducted in such a way as to enable remission of the debtor's obligations not performed in bankruptcy proceedings.
The legislator adopted two models of consumer debt relief due to the criterion referring to the decision factor on debt relief. First, cancellation of obligations may take place by court order. In this model, the creditors' will whether to write off the debtor's liabilities has no causative power. The court may cancel the debtor's obligations against the will of all or most creditors. Secondly, the debt relief may take place under a consumer arrangement providing for the write-off of part of the obligations accepted by most creditors. The arrangement may be concluded after the declaration of bankruptcy (in separate proceedings conducted in accordance with the provisions of Title V of Part Three of the Bankruptcy Law Act or in ordinary proceedings) or - without declaring the debtor's bankruptcy - in proceedings for concluding an arrangement at a meeting of creditors (in other separate proceedings conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Title VI part three of the Bankruptcy Law Act). In this model of debt relief, the court's competence is limited to adjudicating on the approval of the arrangement. The regulation on the consumer arrangement is, in fact, very residual in the provisions of the Bankruptcy Law Act. The provisions of the Restructuring Law Act apply in all three of the above mentioned consumer arrangement modes.
Debt relief can take the form of definitive or non-definitive. The write-off of "non -definitive" obligations applies to all modes of the consumer agreement due to the possibility of repealing the agreement and the so-called conditional remission of liabilities in consumer bankruptcy.
An important feature of modern debt relief in Poland is its multiformity. The legislator presents at the disposal of an insolvent
intelektualna w prawie upadtosciowym i naprawczym, M. Zatucki (editor), War-szawa 2012, p. 43; K. Babiarz-Mikulska, Post^powanie upadtosciowe wobec osob nieprowadz^cych dziatalnosci gospodarczej, Przegl^d Prawa Handlowego 2011, No 12, p. 55.
2 B.L. - Bankruptcy Law Act /ustawa z dnia 28 lutego 2003 r. Prawo upadtosciowe;
debtor - a natural person who does not run a business, several modes of debt relief.
First of all, the debtor's debts may be removed by decommit-ment of the bankrupt's obligations by court order after the repayment plan has been completed in separate proceedings (or in ordinary proceedings applicable to entrepreneurs, in the case referred to in Article 4911 section 2 B.L.). It should be stressed that a repayment plan has a separate legal basis as well as a different legal significance in ordinary and separate proceedings for debt relief.
There are significant differences between the ad quem deadline for bankruptcy proceedings in the ordinary procedure and in the separate mode. In ordinary proceedings in accordance with Article
368 section 1 and 2 B.L. the court after completing the final division plan states the termination of the bankruptcy proceedings. The court also states the termination of the proceedings if all creditors were satisfied in the course of the proceedings. According to Article
369 section 1 B.L. within thirty days of the date of the announcement of the order terminating the banktuptcy proceedings, the bankrupt who is a natural person may submit a request to establish a repayment plan for creditors and write off the remainder of the obligations that were not met in the insolvency proceedings. On the other hand, in separate proceedings the repayment plan of the sense largo fulfills the functions of a list of claims an division plan as well. In accordance with Article 49114 section 8 B.L. a decision establishing a repayment plan for creditors or canceling the debtor's obligations without establishing a repayment plan for creditors or conditional cancellation of the debtor's obligations without setting a creditors repayment plan means the termination of the bankruptcy proceedings. This way of regulating the issue of termination of insolvency proceedings leads to many inconsistencies. In most cases, the debtor's debt is written off after the bankruptcy proceedings have ended.
The debt relief can take place through the write-off of the bankrupt's obligations by court order after repealing the repayment plan, which the bankrupt is unable to perform for objective reasons in separate proceedings (or in ordinary proceedings applicable to entrepreneurs, in the case referred to in Article 4911 section 2 B.L.).
The debt relief can take place through the cancellation of the debtor's obligations by court order without setting a repayment plan in separate proceedings (or in ordinary proceedings applicable to entrepreneurs in the case referred to in Article 4911 section 2 B.L.).
The debt relief may take place pursuant to the bankruptcy court's order by way of conditional remission of the debtor's obligations without establishing a repayment plan for creditors in separate proceedings (or in ordinary proceedings applicable to entrepreneurs, in the case referred to in Article 4911 section 2 B.L.).
The debt relief may take place by way of an arrangement in separate proceedings (or in ordinary proceedings applicable to entrepreneurs, in the case referred to in Article 4911 section 2 B.L.).
The debt relief for an insolvent natural person not conducting business activity may take place in proceedings for the conclusion of an arrangement at the creditors' meeting, without declaration of consumer bankruptcy.
The cancellation of obligations applies, subject to exceptions provided for by the Bankruptcy Law Act, to all obligations covered by the insolvency proceedings regardless of their legal nature (source of origin). The cancellation of obligations in consumer bankruptcy occurs on the basis of a judgment of the bankruptcy court. The cancellation of obligations is compulsory, which means
that it also occurs against the will of creditors, and certainly in an independent manner.
The legal effect of a final court decision on the write-off of liabilities is the loss of legal existence of the debtor's liabilities (with the "universal" meaning of the concept of liability).
LEGAL CHARACTER OF CONSUMER DEBT RELIEF
First of all, the bad aura of the word "debt relief" should be conjured. A claim that cannot be satisfied from the debtor's assets, even under state coercion, cannot last forever. The legal system includes provisions on the limitation of claims and the expiration of claims. The effects of limitation and expiration of claims are somewhat similar to the effects of debt relief. Debt relief does not mean consent to the non-payment of debts by the debtor who has the property or by the debtor who has hidden the property through acts detrimental to creditors. Debt relief is applied in a situation -according to theoretical assumptions - when the debtor is not able to pay debts. Debt relief allows for social and economic reactivation of the debtor with obvious social benefits.
A debt relief is voluntary by nature from the debtor's point of view. Debt relief - in relation to the debtor - is not compulsory. The debtor is only entitled to file for bankruptcy. He is not obliged to file for consumer bankruptcy. The provision of Article 4912 section B.C. excludes the regulation of Article 21 B.L. on the obligation (statutory constraint) to file for bankruptcy. Filing of an application for consumer bankruptcy is therefore the debtor's right (privilege) and is entirely optional. The declaration of consumer bankruptcy causes far-reaching consequences for the bankrupt (Article 57 B.L.), his property and the possibility of using and disposing of this property (Article 61 B.L.), matrimonial property relations (Article 124 B.L.), as well as other. The debtor is not liable for damages for failing to file for bankruptcy (Article 21 section 3 B.L.). The debtor does not bear such responsibility towards the spouse (irrespective of the matrimonial property regime between the spouses).
The debtor may at any time - until the date of declaration of bankruptcy - withdraw the application for declaration of consumer bankruptcy. It should also be assumed that the debtor may withdraw the application also after the court rejects the application but before it becomes final. However, pursuant to Article 29a section 1 B.L. - which is applicable in separate proceedings - the bankruptcy court may declare the withdrawal of the bankruptcy petition inadmissible if it would lead to harm to creditors. In accordance with Article 49110 section 1 B.L. the court discontinues the bankruptcy proceedings at the request of the bankrupt. However, the court does not discontinue the proceedings if the discontinuation of the proceedings could result in harm to creditors (Article 49110 B.L.). The debtor can influence the course of proceedings through the instrument of withdrawing the application and discontinuing the proceedings
In accordance with Article 4914 section 2 B.L. in the case of proceedings initiated solely at the request of the creditor, the trustee shall submit to the court a draft plan for repayment of creditors with reasons or information that the conditions referred to in Article 49114a section 1 or Article 49116 section 1 or 2 B.L., unless the debtor at the call of the trustee declares that he does not request the preparation of a creditors' repayment plan.
There is a strong connection between the debt relief and bankruptcy proceedings (under which apply standards adopted by the legislator to protect creditors' interests). The material and legal effect of the cancellation of liabilities arises as a result of specific events that occurred in the course of court proceedings. The bank-
ruptcy proceedings may be discontinued and therefore no debt relief may be granted.
The debt relief set out in the Bankruptcy Law Act is inseparably connected with the public law element in the form of either a court decision on the cancellation of obligations or a court decision on the approval of the consumer arrangement. Theoretically, it is possible to cancel consumer debts completely under the contract or contracts concluded between the debtor and the creditor or creditors. In accordance with Article 508 C.C. the obligation expires when the creditor releases the debtor from the debt and the debtor accepts the release. However, the "private" release of an insolvent debtor is in practice rare. The agreements come into effect and cause their legal consequences as a result of making declarations of will by all parties. Bilateral and multilateral agreements are distinguished in the general typology of contracts. As a rule, bilateral agreements have separate (usually antagonistic) interests for each party . To conclude a debt relief agreement, a consensus of all parties of the contract is essential. In the event of a debt relief by bankruptcy court, the will of the creditors is irrelevant and in the case of a consumer arrangement, most creditors are sufficient for the debt relief. As a rule, the contract comes into effect solo consensus. It should be further pointed out that for the effectiveness of the contract it is not necessary to accept the authority of the state. Meanwhile, the arrangement - for its effectiveness - requires approval by the bankruptcy court. The effects of the agreement also apply to those creditors who voted against the arrangement.
A feature of the debt relief is its openness. In accordance with Article 49114 section 7 sentences 1 B.L. a decision establishing a repayment plan for creditors or canceling the debtor's obligations without establishing a repayment plan for creditors or conditional cancellation of the debtor's obligations without establishing a repayment plan for creditors shall be announced. Publicity of the debt is served by examining cases at the court hearing (see e.g. Article 49114 section 4, Article 49120a B.L.).
A feature of the consumer debt relief is its instance control (it is possibility to appeal against crucial court's decisions). In accordance with Article 49114 sectiom 7 sentences 2 B.L. on the court's decision regarding the determination of the repayment plan of the creditors or on the cancellation of the debtor's obligations without establishing the repayment plan of the creditors or on the conditional cancellation of the debtor's obligations without establishing the repayment plan of the creditors, there is a complaint, which is a devolutory measure. In turn, according to Article 49117 section 1 B.L. from the decision of the court of second instance on determining the repayment plan of creditors or on the cancellation of the debtor's obligations without establishing the repayment plan of the creditors or on the conditional cancellation of the debtor's obligations without determining the repayment plan of creditors a participant in proceedings is entitled to a cassation appeal.
A feature of consumer debt is its widespread availability for insolvent natural persons who do not run a commercial activity. In support of the 2019 novel. it was written that "the regulation proposed in par. 2 and 3 Article 491 15 aims to dispel doubts that, although the principle remains the full coverage in the repayment plan of the costs temporarily incurred by the State Treasury, it is also possible to pay them partially in the event of limited earning possibilities of the bankrupt. This should eliminate cases in which the inability to fully repay the costs of the Treasury prompted the
courts to end the bankruptcy proceedings without establishing a repayment plan. "3
Debt relief is possible for socially acceptable cases - according to the axiological assumption of the legislator. If the debt is offset on the basis of an arrangement, the consent of most creditors is needed. Pursuant to the principle of volenti non fit iniuria (who wants has no harm), most creditors can accept the terms of the consumer agreement, regardless of the premises of payment morality. Similarly, in the case of the arrangement concluded under the Restructuring Law Act, the entrepreneur's payment morality is not analyzed. If the debt is discharged pursuant to a bankruptcy court order, then - to put it simply - the debtor must meet the criteria of payment morality.
PAYMENT MORALITY OF THE DEBTOR AND ITS LEGAL IMPORTANCE
The importance of payment morality should be associated with the institution of debt relief. In the justification of the bill from December 5, 2008. - which very narrowly opened the possibility of the debt relief - it was pointed out that "legal regulation of consumer bankruptcy, in order to fulfill its functions and not pose a threat to creditors and the security of legal transactions, must comply with the following assumptions:
1. the debt relief must be an exception, not a rule - the debtor may use this mode only in exceptional cases and only if it guarantees that the debt will be used for a new start in life and that it will not be recklessly indebted,
2. the possibility of the debt relief is a privilege for the debtor"4.
De lege lata the debt relief, despite significant liberalization of
regulations through subsequent statutory changes, is not of an "open" nature. In other words, the bankruptcy court when deciding on the debt relief of the bankrupt (i.e. in the case of judicial cancellation of the bankrupt's defaulted obligations) should examine - to a large extent - the so-called payment morality of the bankrupt.
Should not use the institution of the debt relief in the form of judicial cancellation of liabilities such a debtor who is deliberately in debt and then unable to satisfy creditors. A completely open debt relief option under consumer bankruptcy could promote negative social attitudes. Limiting access to debt relief should be justified. Excessive liberalization of regulations may have such negative effects as limiting the availability of bank loans and increasing their costs, increasing the market position of para-bank institutions granting loans with aggressive margins.
It has been argued in the literature that the line between consumer protection and giving privileges to consumers is difficult to grasp in legislation5. Consumer law should equalize the chances of a weaker participants in the market (consumers). Excessive consumer protection may cause the phenomenon of so-called moral hazard, i.e. claim attitudes and a lack of responsibility for the decisions taken, which ultimately turns against the consumer. Consumer law is also not an instrument by which consumer social protection can be implemented. Rather, such protection should be implemented within the scope of social protection law, health protection, combating unemployment, family policy, etc.
The legislator in its current wording has twice referred to the issue of the debtor's payment morality. First, in accordance with Article 49114a section 1 B.L. "The court shall issue a decision to refuse to set up a creditors' repayment plan or to cancel a bankrupt's
3 Print No. 3480 of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland of the 8th term
4 Print No. 831 of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland of the 6th term
5 Print No. 3480 of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland of the 8th term
liabilities without establishing a creditors' repayment plan or to conditionally write off bankrupt's liabilities without establishing a creditors' repayment plan, if: 1) the bankrupt has led to its insolvency or significantly increased its degree in a deliberate manner, in particular by squandering the constituent parts of the property and intentionally not settling the payable liabilities, 2) within ten years before the date of filing the bankruptcy petition in relation to the bankrupt, bankruptcy proceedings were conducted in which all or part of his liabilities were written off - unless establishing a repayment plan for creditors or writing off liabilities bankrupt without setting a credit repayment plan or conditional cancellation of the debtor's obligations without setting a credit repayment plan is justified on grounds of equity or humanitarian considerations. "
Secondly, according to Article 49115 section 1a B.L. stipulates as following: "If it is established that the bankrupt has led to his insolvency or significantly increased its severity intentionally or through gross negligence, the creditors' repayment plan may not be set for less than thirty-six months or more than eighty-four months."
The following conclusions can be drawn from the list of debt relief modes with the structure of payment morality. First of all, payment morality conditions the admissibility of only certain modes of debt relief. The debtor's payment morality has no legal significance in the event of debt relief under the consumer arrangement. Secondly, payment morality as a condition of the debt relief is not absolute. Equity or humanitarian considerations might be reasons for allowing a person who does not meet the criteria of payment morality to receive the debt relief. Thirdly, payment morality affects the course of some debt relief modes.
The legislator - in relation to the previous regulation - did not give up the census of the debtor's payment morality, but postponed the stage of its examination from the bankruptcy decree phase to the moment when the court makes a decision on debt relief and significantly liberalized the threshold of payment morality .
In accordance with Article 49114a section 1 B.L. the court issues a ruling refusing to set up a creditors 'repayment plan or canceling the debts' obligations without establishing a creditors 'repayment plan or conditional decommissioning of the bankrupt's obligations without establishing a creditors' repayment plan in two cases.
First, there is no morality payment if the bankrupt has intentionally led to his insolvency or significantly increased its degree in a deliberate manner, in particular by squandering parts of the property and deliberate failure to settle payable liabilities. In this case, the morality of payment is in the form of a deliberate failure to pay. In other words, the payment morality of the bankrupt excludes intentional fault with a direct intention to lead to insolvency. In Polish civil law, the design of guilt refers to the French concept of guilt as a two-element structure, combining two elements: subjective and objective. In the science of law, relationships between them are differently defined. The objective element referred to as unlawfulness means that the perpetrator's behavior is inconsistent with the law or the principles of social coexistence. This is an objective category of assessment. The perpetrator can be accused of this misbehavior. The subjective element of guilt (sometimes referred to as guilt sensu stricto) is sometimes recognized in the sense given to him by psychological theory as a perpetrator's offensive attitude to an act, when his awareness and the will of a specific behavior are directed towards behavior contrary to the legal order or the principle of social coexistence. At present, however, the understanding of guilt according to normative theory prevails. The guilt is expressed in the possibility of accusing the perpetrator of inappro-
priate behavior. Therefore, the body applying the law (in this case, the bankruptcy court) will assess the perpetrator's mental attitude from the outside. It is based on comparing his behavior with a certain type of conduct. Adopting the assessment in abstracto theoretically prevents situations that exist in the case of using the assessment in concreto, where the perpetrator's psyche, his awareness, individual properties, etc. are determined. Therefore, an adequate pattern of conduct, the way of making comparisons, as well as the scope of application of the assessment in abstracto requires determination.
Secondly, there is no morality payment if within ten years before the date of filing for bankruptcy in relation to the bankrupt, insolvency proceedings were conducted in which all or part of his obligations were discontinued. In this case, the payment morality is in the form of no repeat default.
It should be reiterated that the premise of payment morality in the form of the lack of intentional insolvency and the lack of recidivism of insolvency applies only to certain modes of debt relief. It applies to those procedures in which the court makes a substantive decision on the cancellation of the bankrupt's defaulted obligations. In turn, the payment morality of the debtor in this form is irrelevant for those modes of debt relief in which the debtor's liabilities are written off under the consumer arrangement adopted by most creditors.
The above premises are not absolute. The court does not apply them if the establishment of the creditors' repayment plan or the cancellation of the debtor's obligations without establishing the creditors' repayment plan or the conditional cancellation of the debtor's obligations without establishing the creditors' repayment plan is justified by equitable or humanitarian considerations.
The normative juncture "or" indicates that the legislator used the ordinary alternative. The terms 'equity' and 'humanitarian considerations' may cross each other.
Scopes of the provisions of Article 49114a section 1 B.L. and Article 49115 section 1a B.L intersect. The first of them mentions that "the bankrupt has led to his insolvency or significantly increased its degree in a deliberate manner, in particular by squandering the constituent parts of the property and intentional non-payment of due obligations". The second mentions that "the bankrupt has led to his insolvency or significantly increased his degree intentionally or through gross negligence." However, the premise of Article 49114a section 1 B.L. is not absolute. This means that there may be an admissibility of the debt relief if it is justified by equity or humanitarian reasons. In this case, however, Article 49115 section 1a B.L. imposes a longer repayment period.
If, in the absence of payment morality, there is no debt relief but bankruptcy funds have beeb accumulated in the bankruptcy proceedings, the court issues a decision establishing a repayment plan for creditors, in which he lists the creditors participating in the repayment plan and divides the funds of the estate of bankruptcy between creditors participating in the repayment plan (Article 49114a section 2 B.L.).
SUMMARY
The next milestone in the debt relief in Poland for natural persons is the Act of August 30, 2019. The date of entry into force of the core of this amendment is March 24, 2020.
The legislator's assumption is to streamline the consumer bankruptcy procedure and make it available to even more indebted persons.
At the same time, many modes of debt relief have been allowed, which is beneficial in itself, but with rather poor legal awareness of the public, it can be an untapped potential.
First of all, the most important change seems to be the abandonment of the need to examine the so-called the payment morality of the debtor, including the debtor's fault in bringing or deepening insolvency by the bankruptcy court at the stage of declaring bankruptcy. The explanatory memorandum to the draft law states that the former solutions allowing dismissal of the bankruptcy petition on the basis of the finding that the debtor had no payment morality "are the reason for significant judicial differences in individual court districts, contributing to the phenomenon of >tour-ism< bankruptcy in the country"6.
However, this does not mean giving up the importance of payment morality for the possibility of debt relief for an insolvent natural person. "Any improper behavior of the debtor (...) will be examined at the stage of determining the repayment plan of creditors, and therefore when the behavior of the debtor can also be heard by creditors"7.
The debtor is allowed to enter into an arrangement with creditors outside the court. New separate proceedings were introduced - proceedings for the conclusion of an arrangement at a meeting of creditors by a natural person not conducting business activity.
There is a possibility to take advantage of the institution of prepared liquidation of debtor's assets (pre-pack). In accordance with Article 4912 section 1a B.L. a participant in the proceedings may submit an application - before announcement of debtor's bankruptcy - for approval of the conditions of sale of assets of significant value. The provisions of Articles 56a - 56h B.L. (designed for prepared liquidation of entrepreneur's assets) shall apply accordingly.
In order to simplify and accelerate proceedings for consumers appointment of a judge-commissioner in consumer bankruptcy was abandoned (to compensate for the lack of a judge-commissioner, there is a new institution of a complaint to the bankruptcy court regarding the trustee's activities - Article
49112a B.L.).
Reference list:
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praktyczny, Warszawa 2009
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6 Print No. 3480 of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland of the 8th term
7 Print No. 3480 of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland of the 8th term
СПОСОБЫ ОСВОБОЖДЕНИЯ ДОЛЖНИКА ОТ ОБЯЗАТЕЛЬСТВ В ПОЛЬШЕ
Адамус Рафаль, доктор юридических наук, профессор Место работы: Опольский университет, Польша
adamus_rafal@wp.pl
Аннотация: потребительское банкротство действует в польской правовой системе с 2008 года. Серьезная поправка к положениям о банкротстве потребителей, внесенная законом от 30 августа 2019 года О внесении изменений в Закон-Закон О банкротстве и некоторые другие акты (Journal of Laws 2019 пункт 1802), безусловно, окажет существенное влияние и заметное увеличение числа дел о банкротстве. Неплатежеспособность физических лиц-потребителей - это типичное социальное явление. Это может быть вызвано внезапным изменением жизненной ситуации, связанной с ухудшением здоровья, потерей высокооплачиваемой работы, разводом, смертью супруга, прекращением неформальных отношений с партнером. Многие люди становятся жертвами культуры потребления и т.д. Некоторые должники стали неплатежеспособными, потому что стали жертвами какой-то жизненной ловушки, гарантами чужого долга, мошенничества, неудачных инвестиций и т. Азартные игры, алкоголизм и наркомания являются движущими силами неплатежеспособности. Относительно большая группа должников - это бывшие предприниматели и бывшие члены правления, отвечающие по обязательствам столичной компании. Поскольку причины неплатежеспособности различны, правовые системы ограничивают возможность облегчения долгового бремени только для должников, которые отвечают определенным критериям «банкротной морали». Это краткое исследование касается только правовых аспектов, связанных с облегчением долгового бремени при банкротстве физических лиц в Польше. Ключевые слова: банкротство, несостоятельность, потребитель, облегчение бремени задолженности.
