The welcome extended by our Hungarian colleagues to the delegations of the UIHJ was exceptional and we will all cherish an unforgettable memory of the few days spent in the splendid and historically rich city of Budapest.
Ten years of history
In his welcome speech Mr Krejniker Q.C., president of the National Chamber of enforcement agents of Hungary, reminded us that ten years ago the Hungarian enforcement agents were simple employees lacking any serious motivation. "Today, having become an independent profession, we are celebrating the tenth anniversary of our National Chamber and we are particularly proud to celebrate this occasion with the UIHJ and its president Jacques Isnard". President Krejniker evoked with a certain amount of emotion the last ten years and the extent of the progress achieved with the unfailing support of the UIHJ. Hungary was one of the first Eastern European countries to adopt an independent status for the profession, along with Poland, and one of the first to join the UIHJ after the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the Soviet bloc. President Krejniker extended his warm thanks to the UIHJ and the current president Jacques Isnard...whose portrait hangs in one of the halls of the National Chamber!
A lack of identity
President Isnard was visibly touched by the welcome and the honour reserved to the UIHJ as he indicated that its role was to never stop working towards the advancement of the profession of enforcement agent in all countries. A major project has been initiated to protect the economic future of enforcement agents, which has become one of the central preoccupations of the UIHJ committee. The president noted that we are suffering from a lack of identity, since even the name of the enforcement agent differs from one country to another. On this subject, the Recommendation Rec(2003)17 of the Committee of Ministers of the Member States on the subject of the enforcement of legal decisions, adopted on the 9th of September 2003, constitutes the foundation at the European level of the new face of the European enforcement agent and must become a reference for the UIHJ. However, he emphasised, we are still far from a situation of homogeneity.
President Isnard then deplored the current situation in three countries, Italy, Austria and Slovenia, where no supervisory structure is possible. In particular, in the large country that is Italy, and where the procedure originated, the profession is disintegrating with every passing day and, little by little, our colleagues are losing their prerogatives. If in the future our Italian colleagues were to become independent, what would they live by?
An encouraging situation in several countries
Nevertheless, the situation is much more encouraging in other countries. In Portugal, the profession of enforcement agent has been created from start to finish in record time and the enforcement Solicitadores were set up in September 2003 . Now, nearly one year on, the profession has launched itself with total success and is a source of hope for the future. In Germany, our colleagues are making giant steps towards the liberalisation of the profession. Bulgaria is also turning towards the independent profession and is particularly interested in the Dutch example. In Spain, the Procuradores have greater prerogatives in terms of enforcement and can notify legal documents, along with clerks of the court, since December 2003.
Non-stop activity for the UIHJ
Debt recovery is the key issue for the UIHJ. It is essential and inherently connected to the existence of the notification procedure. To ensure that it becomes a specificity of the enforcement agent, in terms of both amicable and legal recovery, the legal link between the two phases is the notification. As long as the instruments in place require that the ruling made be notified by an enforcement agent, our presence will be indispensable, concluded president Isnard on this matter.
The UIHJ is working flat out: 23 meetings held between January and June 2004! But this is still not enough and the new member States of the European Union require explanations as to how to apply the new regulations.
Dariusz Potkanski, assistant treasurer of the UIHJ, gave a summary of the international symposium of Krakow and thanked the UIHJ for its participation and its presence, which contributed to the success of the event which took place in the presence of the Minister of Justice. Other seminars are also planned in Poland, in November 2004 and in the spring of 2005.
Roland Demeerleer, member of the UIHJ committee told of the success of the conferences on the issue of debt recovery which were held in Brussels on the 8th of April 2004 , and which reunited 164 participants from all over Europe. The creation of international networks was one of the main issues of this event and the Dutch enforcement agents were recognised as the leaders in this domain. Bernard Menut, secretary of the UIHJ, spoke strongly in favour of the idea of networks and the importance of training the members of such networks, so as to offer the clients a uniform practice and an identical set of working methods.
Mr Menut announced that a project, which remains a secret for the moment, will be finalised in September 2004 and will be proposed to the members of the UIHJ.
The adoption of a resolution
The following resolution was solemnly approved:
"Reunited in Budapest on the 4th of June 2004 on the occasion of their permanent council, the member countries of the UIHJ approved the following resolution:
- We are convinced that the action of providing complete, objective and precise information to the persons implicated in legal proceedings is one of the foundations of the right to a fair trial and to the enforcement of legal decisions, of which we are guarantors
- We are conscious that the notification of legal documents and extrajudicial documents compiled by a highly trained, authorised and responsible professional, present all the guarantees necessary for a high quality level of information
- We intend to promote the notification of legal and extrajudicial documents by the person of the enforcement agent rather than notification by post, which cannot guarantee the respect of the fundamental right to information
- We affirm our unfailing attachment to the notification of legal and extrajudicial documents, and to the development of this method of informing the persons implicated in legal proceedings by means of their respective governments."
UIHJ Euromed: a reality
The creation of UIHJ Euromed was also applauded. The aim was to create a network which would include the enforcement agents from the European and African parts of the Mediterranean. A charter was drawn up to allow the creation of communication networks between the countries. All the countries in the zone (Algeria, Spain, France, Greece, Morocco, Portugal, Tunisia) with the exception of Italy, signed this charter.
Setting up the Committee of the UIHJ
The Committee of the UIHJ is in the process of being formed. The Committee is mainly responsible for the scientific works of the UIHJ. Each country is requested to designate one person from the profession who is available and dynamic and who speaks either French or English. Once all the members have been designated, the Committee will be fully operational and will be able to truly begin to develop and grow in importance. For the moment several subjects have been raised by the current team which includes the French member Mathieu Chardon, the Belgian member Marc Schmitz and the Dutch member Jos Uitdehaag: a project concerning the prevention of difficulties for businesses, studies on the new instruments created by the Council of the European Union, and a manual for enforcement agents of the 25 Member States of the European Union to celebrate the entrance of 10 new States. This manual was distributed to the participants of the permanent Council and met with a very favourable reception. Other projects are also in the pipeline, such as a global library of works relating to the profession and to the civil enforcement procedures.
The Committee has also been charged with preparing the new Internet site of the UIHJ. A model was presented to the participants and the work is encouraging. The definitive site will be opened in November 2004, on the occasion of the permanent Council in November in Paris.
A High Tech congress in 2006
To finish, work has begun in preparation for the Washington Congress. The provisional title of the congress is: ‘Broadwide Technology'. It's guaranteed that with a theme like that, resolutely facing into the future and embracing the new technologies, this congress will mark a new stage in the construction of the monumental edifice that UIHJ works towards every day, entirely at the service of the profession of enforcement agent.
As for the festivities that brought the permanent Council to a close, we will all long remember the reception given by the National Chamber of Enforcement agents of Hungary at its magnificent premises, where everyone could take refreshment and make better acquaintance with a drink in hand. And what could be a better drink with which to toast international cooperation than a glass of the delicious Hungarian wine Tokay from the Chamber's very own cellars ... Cheers!
