Bankruptcy rules evolve with the times.
Over the years, the rules were reformed very regularly.
The most recent reform took effect Sept. 1, 2023.
The rules result from a June 20, 2019 European Parliament directive.
In BELGIUM, it was not transposed until the adoption of a draft law in May 2023 and the publication of the law on June 7, 2023.
As indicated above, the new law came into effect on Sept. 1, 2023.
Prevention:
The new law also seeks to take preventive action.
If possible, efforts are made to avoid bankruptcy.
An important role is therefore played by the Enterprise Court and more specifically the Chamber of Enterprises in Difficulty or KOIM for short.
The role of the Chamber of Enterprises in Difficulty is being expanded.
This Chamber will now also be able to mediate between the debtor and his creditor.
Of course, it remains to be seen how successful these initiatives will be.
In any case, the role of the lawyer also becomes more important at this stage given the mediating role of the Chamber in Difficulty.
It is evident that a bankruptcy lawyer would be in the best position to work with the Chamber of Companies in Difficulty to try to reach a comprehensive settlement with creditors.
Judicial Reorganization Procedure Reform (PGR):
It also includes a number of rules relevant to the procedure of judicial reorganization.
This procedure, known in the past as the judicial settlement, has also been modified regularly over the years.
Automatic remission:
As far as we are concerned, the most important change to the bankruptcy procedure relates to discharge.
In the past, those who, as natural persons, wished to be freed from debts after bankruptcy had to apply for discharge.
The law provided a mandatory deadline of six months within which this application had to be submitted.
This very regularly gave rise to catastrophic consequences for natural persons who did not respect this deadline.
After all, it is mainly this category of bankrupts who had no knowledge of the precise legal requirements.
The Constitutional Court already ruled in the past that the six-month deadline was unconstitutional.
The Belgian legislature, spurred on by Europe, abolished this deadline.
From now on, the remission will in principle be granted automatically.
An application for this is no longer required.
Do you have further questions about insolvency or bankruptcy?
Contact Peterfreund & Associates, your bankruptcy law attorney.
