Seizure by a court enforcement officer (komornik) in the context of continued business activity

5. December 2019

Dawid Zwijacz

A business activity depends, among other things, on financial liquidity. An enterprise cannot continue its operations if any enforcement is pending against it, e.g. if bank accounts used to pay salaries or supplies are seized.  Doing business with bank accounts blocked is at least very difficult or at worst impossible at all. Moreover, certain actions may trigger criminal liability if taken under seizure.

In order to lawfully continue business with a goal of improving your financial situation and at the same time escaping court enforcement seizures, you may consider one of the restructuring proceedings.
Restructuring law sets certain rules for enforcement against those who apply for restructuring.

ACCELERATED VOLUNTARY ARRANGEMENT PROCEEDINGS (POSTĘPOWANIE UKŁADOWE)

Enforcement of a claim covered by an arrangement by operation of law, initiated before the opening of accelerated voluntary arrangement proceedings, gets suspended on the opening date by operation of law (Article 259 of the Restructuring Act). Moreover, at a request of the debtor or a court-appointed administrator (nadzorca sądowy), the judge-commissioner (sędzia komisarz) may revoke the seizure made before the opening of the accelerated voluntary arrangement proceedings in the course of enforcement or proceedings to secure claims covered by an arrangement by law if this is necessary to continue the business operations.
At a request of the debtor or a temporary court-appointed administrator the court may suspend enforcement of claims covered by an arrangement by law and revoke a bank account seizure if this is necessary to achieve the goals of the voluntary arrangement proceedings. Enforcement of a claim covered by an arrangement by operation of law, initiated before the opening of voluntary arrangement proceedings, gets suspended on the opening date by operation of law.

REHABILITATION PROCEEDINGS (POSTĘPOWANIE SANACYJNE)

Enforcement against the debtor’s assets which make up the rehabilitation estate (masa sanacyjna), initiated before the opening of rehabilitation proceedings, gets suspended on the opening date by operation of law. At a request of the debtor or administrator, the judge-commissioner may revoke the seizure made before the opening of the rehabilitation proceedings in the course of enforcement or proceedings to secure claims against the debtor's assets which make up the rehabilitation estate if this is necessary to continue the business operations.

The above quotations indicate that seizure by court enforcement officers may be lawfully revoked and enforcement may be lawfully suspended by virtue of restructuring proceedings. The choice of the proceedings depends on the enterprise’s individual situation which should be assessed by a professional adviser. The choice is significant in that it affects the ability to manage the enterprise in the course of proceedings.

If you want to discuss this topic in greater detail, please contact our experts in Rödl & Partner offices in Cracow, Gdansk, Gliwice, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw.