1) Which documents do you need?
Under the provisions of the EU (EC) No 1896/2006 for European order for payment procedure, our lawyers need:
– the original European order for payment (EOP);
or
– a copy of the European order for payment, as declared enforceable by the court of origin, which satisfies the conditions necessary to establish its authenticity (e.g.in Romania, the Courts legalize the copies) ;
After receiving the copy of the EOP, our law firm will proceed to translate the document into Romanian. The translation must be certified by a Romanian translator authorized by the Romanian Ministry of Justice.
The Romanian translation must be then authenticated by a Public Notary.
Speaking from experience, some Public Notaries have requested us to produce the original EOP from which the translations were made, so we advise you to send us the original EOP, if possible.
2) How the enforcement proceedings work in Romania?
The enforcement of the EOP will be carried out by an Official Bailiff seated in the same area in which the Debtor is seated.
Our Lawyers prepare all the documents needed in order for the bailiff to carry out the formal requirements for enforceability as they are governed by the Romanian law.
Our Lawyers will submit the request of enforcement and the annexed documents to the official bailiff.
From the moment the official bailiff accepts our request to enforce the EOP, the costs for this procedure will be estimated by the bailiff.
Enforcement phase
Enforcement will commence after bailiff fee will be paid by the Client (or by the Law firm, if so empowered).
Challenge possibility
The Debtor will be able to challenge any order or action of the bailiff in 15 days from the moment the order or any other action is communicated to the Debtor.
If a challenge is made, the challenge will go to Court of Law and there will be a lawsuit on the enforcement issue raised by the Debtor. Our lawyers will defend your case and the debtor
The challenge can have as an effect the annulment of the EOP or the rejection of the challenge.
The challenge does not suspend the enforcement if this suspension is not asked for by the debtor and granted by the Judge.
3) Is it possible to check the situation of the debtor before starting the enforcement proceedings?
Our Lawyers can actively check in the Insolvency Procedure Bulletin to identify if the Debtor filed for insolvency.
Our Lawyers can actively check for the existence of any litigation files concerning the Debtor (both presently being judged or already judged files).
Also, our lawyers can obtain financial data recorded by the debtor at public institutions in Romania.
4) How much does the enforcement proceedings cost?
First, we will require a fee payment for our services which include the request of execution and the defense in case of a challenge made by the debtor.
The enforcement costs are calculated by the bailiff based on the amount of the debt (principle and/or penalties and/or interest).
After said costs are paid by the Client, the enforcement procedure will begin.
All these costs will be paid by the debtor in the enforcement procedure started by the bailiff.
Author: Radu Sora, Andrei Bodescu
