Chile: UIHJ meets the Legal Receivers

The First Cousin of the Judicial Officers

The objective for the three judicial officers who joined the group, i.e. two members of the UIHJ (President Jacques Isnard and Dominique Abadie) and a French fellow-member (Michel Mariscal), consisted in completing the work of information relating to the profession engaged by the Chilean Government at the time of a previous visit in France a few months before.
It is important to specify that Chile, which knows an upheaval of its economy and a considerable growth, undertook important structural reforms of its legal apparatus so that today the Government seeks to improve its enforcement system and, indirectly, the occupation of judicial officer.
In Chile, as opposed to other Latin American States, the “legal receiver” is a true first cousin of the judicial officer such as he exists in France.
The “legal receiver” is indeed an enforcement agent who serves documents and carries out his activity independently and as a self employed professional, with his own office, staff and equipment.
However, the receiver, unlike the judicial officer, cannot receive funds and exclusively remains a kind of clerk of the judge in charge of enforcing court decisions, which is the core of his activities. There are 850 receivers in Chile. Three years ago, half of them have formed an association of legal receivers. They compete with other enforcement agents in certain given sectors.
The geographical configuration of the country (a 4.300 km long strip of land) is a source of handicap to carry out joint actions, so that the representation of the profession near the authorities is ensured in the form of a permanence by the President of the Association of the area of Santiago who maintains contacts with the national board located in the south of the country.
Until now our Chilean fellow-members had never heard of the Judicial Officers and the UIHJ was completely unknown to them.
Today, they are concerned by the changes in progress in which the reform of the statute of judicial officer is a significant aspect.

A Set of Questions

According to Patricia Castro Jimenez, president of the area of Santiago of the association, the authorities are very discrete and evasive on the considered reforms.
It would seem that the mode of recruitment is a major concern for the Ministry for Justice. Indeed, receivers are recruited among the body of the courts' clerks who offer intellectual and professional guarantees after a long period of activity in their capacity.
In fact, the receivers do not necessarily have law diplomas and their legal knowledge can sometimes prove to be doubtful. However, the Government wants a body of qualified and of high level legal receivers.
The delegation of the UIHJ underwent a set of questions from all that the country can count of organizations interested by the reform and by the judicial officers (receivers).
The experts of the UIHJ and France were first greeted at the Supreme Court by the president of this prestigious jurisdiction, Mr. Enrique Tapia Witting. They were then auditioned by the State Secretary for justice as well - on several occasions - by the Members of the Commission in charge of the reform, directed by Mr. Rodrigo Luniga Carrasco, then by the Judges of the Supreme court (Gabriela Perez Paredes, Pedro Piery Arrau), also by a college of high-ranking magistrates and finally by the bar of Santiago as well as by the Deans and Professors of the catholic universities of Santiago of Chile and Valparaiso.

Chilean fellow-members awaited in Europe

At the term of a marathon-like program, President Jacques Isnard, Dominique Abadie and Michel Mariscal were received at the Centre of legal studies of Americas, an institution comparable with the CEPEJ of the Council of Europe which aims to promote the harmonization of the legislations of thirty-eight countries of the American continent.
This mission, made possible thanks to the SAEI of the Ministry of Justice of France, was remarkably organized from France by Mr. Eduardo Beltran, vice-head office attached to the international cooperation, who put forward the strong interest expressed by the authorities and the various concerned Chilean branches for the statute of judicial officer inspired of the French system.
The reform project is in hand and the decisions are imminent. Moreover for a better still clarification, the commission in charge of the reform project will go to the Netherlands and to France at the beginning of 2008. Undoubtedly this will help to answer all questions.
Before that, our Chilean fellow-members will have approached their European counterparts, since a group of “legal receivers” is awaited in France.
Thus the junction between the judicial officers of Africa, Europe and South America becomes reality... Let's hope it will inspire our Argentinean, Brazilian and other colleagues.
What else but to say that the conditions of the stay and the quality of the reception given by our Chilean hosts were to match these people: cordial, convivial and of a high sentimental range.

Hasta luego amigos de Chile!