Nordic seminar in Oslo from the 8th to the 10th of October 2003

A seminar in collaboration with the UIHJ

From the 8th to the 10th of October 2003 the Nordic counterparts met in Oslo to exchange ideas and work together in workshops. The first step towards the organisation of these seminars was in fact taken in 1997 on the initiative of Jacques Isnard, president of the UIHJ. A total of eighty enforcement agents participated in the Aalborg seminar. Two colleagues from Estonia also participated and for the first time two female colleagues from Iceland. The seminar was organised in association with the UIHJ and the participants were very glad to see the Vice Presidents of the UIHJ, Léo Netten and Roger Dujardin, who were also present.

A full agenda

The seminar was opened by the Vice Director of the Norwegian enforcement organisation who welcomed all the participants.

The ombudsman, Bjorn Erik Thun, spoke of commercialisation and marketing linked with credit and how to warn people against people falling into the trap of excessive debt.

Mrs Tone Thomassen Q.C., a lawyer, explained the workings of the Inkasso Commission, which is the commission where those implicated in legal proceedings can register a complaint relating to the dealings of the offices of amicable debt recovery.

A representative of one of Norway's largest limited liability amicable debt recovery company ‘Lindorff' described his working methods in this domain. He also described the scoring system, which is a system of classing the debtors as ‘good or less good debtors'. This method includes gathering diverse statistical data and several details about each debtor.

In different ways the three speakers all foresaw a considerable rise in the interest rate with unanticipated charges for the debtors and consequently an increase in the number of unpaid debts. They were slightly expecting a situation comparable to that which we experienced in the eighties: a difficult financial situation with a less stable economy and a significant growth in the number of debtors.

The battle against corruption

Eva Joly, a former investigating magistrate in Paris, spoke about corruption and money laundering in France and in the Scandinavian countries and the current legislation in the different European countries. Mrs Joly now works as a legal advisor for the Ministry of Justice and the Police in Oslo. She has noted that we see the same problems of fraudulent bankruptcy arising in Norway, Sweden and France. She also indicated that corruption exists in Africa and in Asia, but also in Europe. The proposal of a new law to prevent abuses in this domain could be a result of her research.

Harmonising enforcement in the Scandinavian countries

On the second day of the seminar the workshops began. The themes covered included the problems of excessive debt in the case of individuals living in one country and working in another. In particular the purpose was to examine the conditions in each country and to find a way to harmonise enforcement in Scandinavia.

Other themes were also dealt with, such as the organisation of enforcement activity in the Nordic countries, commercialisation or marketing in the domain of credit and how to facilitate recovery, the basic Injunction to Pay procedure and seizure.

Comparative summaries

The participants in the seminar worked in groups of 10 to 15 people. The person named as president of the group was responsible for the group work and presented the group's results on the last day of the seminar in the form of a summary.

Generally, the workshop reports included first and foremost a detailed description of the different systems used within the different Scandinavian countries. The groups then looked at the resemblances and the differences between them in terms of legislation, and picked out what they considered to be the most urgent problems.

Even if the organisation of the different activities is very similar in Sweden and in Finland for example, the disparity of the systems in Scandinavia nevertheless constitutes an obstacle in terms of efficient enforcement. This is why harmonisation is necessary.

The workshop dealing with the issue of commercialisation in the domain of credit came to the conclusion that inflation was favourable to debtors due to tax allowance reasons. The participants of this workshop also noted the tendency towards a very significant increase in debts relating to the use of mobile phones by young people and they were extremely critical of the ease with which it is possible to obtain credit over the telephone.

Four years ago in Göteborg the workshop dealing with the issue of excessive debt of individuals proposed, to the Nordic Ministerial Council, that the decisions regarding excessive debt of individuals should be enforceable throughout the Scandinavian countries, which is still not the case today. The Nordic Ministerial Council has completed a report regarding this proposal. The Ministry of Justice will be making a statement on this subject in the near future.

The results of the seminar and the next event...

Over the course of these three days spent together there was a great deal of exchange and many ideas and opinions were raised and discussed. Many of the participants left Oslo with interesting ideas and new contacts. It is certain that Scandinavia is on the right track. The responsibility now falls to Finland and let us hope that it will soon be hosting the next seminar.