The enforcement of a court decision in Croatia is concluded following the regulations prescribed by the Enforcement Act. This rule of law prescribes the manner in which the Croatian courts can handle the enforcement procedures in this country and our team of debt collection lawyers in Croatia can provide an in-depth presentation on the main stipulations of the Act.
Enforcement defines one of the last procedures related to debt collection in Croatia, through which a competent authority issues a decision in the favor of a claimant, who needs to recover his or her debts from a debtor, who can be a natural person or a legal entity. As a general rule, most of the enforcement procedures are related to civil and commercial matters, but Croatia also has a branch of law that regulates the manner in which enforcement can be done in case of criminal activities.
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What is the enforcement procedure in Croatia?
Provided that a creditor used all the legal methods through which he or she could recover his or her debts from a given debtor and if such methods had no positive results, the creditor can address to a Croatian court, which is the competent authority for issuing enforcement decisions that will lead to the seizure of specific assets belonging to the debtor.
Thus, the creditor can file an application with the court – this can be done by the claimant personally, or through his or her legal representatives. The application for starting the enforcement proceedings are generally concluded through the municipal courts. Other courts can be involved in this type of legal action, depending on the case; our team of debt collection lawyers in Croatia can provide more details concerning the court system available in this country.
Which are the parties that can execute enforcement decisions in Croatia?
Besides the competent courts that issue the enforcement decisions based on given documents, public notaries in Croatia can also be involved in the procedure. At the same time, the enforcement procedure can be handled by the Financial Agency in Croatia, but this is applicable in specific situations. For example, the institution has jurisdiction in enforcement cases related to investment funds and employment matters.
What is an enforcement title document in Croatia?
A Croatian court can issue the enforcement decision based on enforcement title documents, which refer to a wide range of documents that can attest the fact that there is a financial obligation between two parties (the creditor and the debtor). Documents attesting cases of debt collection in Croatia can refer to the following:
- court settlements, enforceable court decisions, enforcement settlements that are prescribed by the Civil Procedure Act;
- the enforcement decisions that were ruled by arbitration courts in Croatia;
- enforceable decisions that were established during an administrative proceeding;
- notarial related documents, such as notarial enforcement decisions and the notarial enforcement clause;
- settlements decided by the courts of honor in Croatia and other types of documents that can be prescribed by the local legislation.
What are the assets subjected to enforcement in Croatia?
When performing the procedure of debt collection in Croatia, the debtor can pay his or her debt with most of the assets in his or her possession. Thus, enforcement can refer to financial assets, real estate properties, money obtained from real estate and other assets. It is important to know that once the enforcement decision was issued, the debtor no longer has the right to dispose of his or her assets. Still, it is necessary to know that specific assets can’t be seized, as stipulated by the Enforcement Act.
However, even in the case in which the enforcement decision was issued, the debtor will still have the right to appeal against the decision. Thus, the person is allowed to submit an appeal with the court or, in the case in which the enforcement decision was established through a public notary in Croatia, the debtor can lodge a complaint against the respective decision.
In the situation in which the latter condition applies, the parties can enter again in a new lawsuit. Our debt collection agency in Croatia can provide legal representation to parties that are involved in an enforcement decision established in this country. Natural persons or legal entities that are involved in a case related to debt collection in Croatia are invited to contact our debt collection lawyers, who can offer legal representation in front of the court and who can provide an extensive presentation regarding the applicable legislation in the field.