The UIHJ takes part in a Paris Ouest University seminar (France)

This conference was in the prolongation of a tender launched by the Research Law and Justice Mission Group. There is an important drop of court litigations relating to payment of debts in contractual matter since the years 1993-1994. Indeed the 1.300.000 jurisdictional contractual disputes per annum in these years are now down to approximately 950 000. To understand the reasons of this decline and to draw some conclusions, two teams led by the universities Jean Monnet of Saint-Etienne (France) and Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense undertook research on this subject.

The conference gave the opportunity to present the works and to reflect, with academics and professionals, on this phenomenon. It was placed under the scientific department of Beatrice Thullier, Professor at Law, and Laurence Sinopoli, university lecturer.
President Netten was invited to give the point of view of the occupation of judicial officer at world level. Beatrice Thullier and Laurence Sinopoli evoked the elements to understand this fall of the litigations, dependent on multiple factors such as the economic crisis, the development of debt collecting, excessive debts, bankruptcy procedures, cost of procedures or mediation.
Veronique Leroy-Karpierz (Coface Services Company) explained how, according to her, debt collecting agencies can fight against unpaid debts.

Being the point of view of lawyers on the question, Bruno Berger-Perrin, past President of the Hauts-de-Seine District Bar association, lawyer, evoked the evolution of the behavior of this law professional, in particular with regard to the abandonment of the “all-judicial” culture.

Then ambiguities of amicable settlement of unpaid debts through readjustment of pre-litigation period of the contract to alternative dispute resolutions were presented by Pascal Ancel, professor at Law at the Jean-Monnet University of Saint-Etienne.

Ydriss Ziane, university lecturer at the Sorbonne Business School, Gregor, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, then proposed some reflections of economic order on debts and unpaid debts.
Leo Netten explained why the judicial officer must be regarded as the one-stop shopping of amicable and judicial debt covering. He recalled in particular that the judicial officer is the only professional able to manage the debt covering in his entirety, from the amicable phase, by dealing directly with the debtor in order to obtain a payment or to grant terms of payment, until enforcement, through the enforceable title. Thus, on the market the judicial officer is the privileged and single interlocutor of any creditor, whether he is a private individual, a large client or an institutional.

Lastly, Daniel Lebeau, university lecturer at the University Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense, treated the “chiaroscuro” of civil enforcement.

This very interesting and particularly lively conference managed to stress factual data relating to the fall of court litigation. Concerning the profession, it made possible once again to show the central role of the judicial officer in the debt collecting process and consequently his active participation in this fall of court litigation, for the benefit of the public service of justice, the economy and the citizens.