Discussion on the Problematic Issues Related to Suspension and Termination of Activities of Private Enforcement Officers Took Place

On November 5, at the initiative of the Association of Private Enforcement Officers of Ukraine and with the support of EU Project Pravo-Justice, the discussion dedicated to the current issues of suspension and termination of activities of PEOs in Ukraine was held. The discussion involved representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the State Enforcement Service, the Association of PEOs of Ukraine, the banking community, and experts of EU Project Pravo-Justice.

“Enforcement of court decisions is an important component of the citizens’ right to judicial protection. Ukraine’s European integration obligations provide for the improvement of the sphere of enforcement. Under the conditions of war, which is accompanied by migration processes and mobilisation, issues related to the replacement of PEOs also need to be resolved,” said Iryna Zharonkina, Enforcement and Protection of Property Rights Component Lead of EU Project Pravo-Justice.

Oksana Rusetska, Head of APEO, noted that accessing the accounts of PEOs, whose activities have been terminated, remained an important problematic issue.

“There is a very topical pending issue regarding blocking of PEOs’ accounts at the request of the Association in the event of allegedly improper use of the funds within the enforcement proceedings,” said the Head of APEO.

In his turn, Andrii Haichenko, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine, noted that the Ministry of Justice was open to have dialogue with the PEOs community and stakeholders to develop joint solutions.

“Such discussion events make it possible to find compromise solutions and develop really effective algorithms. The PEOs can count on having their proposals regarding the discussed issue be carefully reviewed by the regulator,” said Andrii Haichenko.

In the meantime, Viacheslav Panasyuk, National Expert of EU Project Pravo-Justice, spoke about the need to reform the institute of temporary enforcement officer. According to him, amendments to the legislation should be prepared to provide for transparent competitive selection of a temporary enforcement officer and the business model of their activities.

“According to the existing legislation, a temporary enforcement officer is appointed on the compulsory basis, and they have to perform work for three months free of charge. In practice, it is reduced to collecting enforcement proceedings of a PEO, whose activities have been terminated, and archiving them. However, it is extremely important that the enforcement process is not interrupted. Therefore, it is advisable to provide for the competitive selection of a temporary enforcement officer, to expand their list of powers, and to provide for financial incentives,” suggested Viacheslav Panasiuk.

The participants to the discussion focused on regulating the access of temporary enforcement officers to the enforcement files and accounts of PEOs, whose activities have been terminated.

Based upon the results of the discussions, the Association of PEOs of Ukraine is planning to develop proposals for the necessary legislative changes in regarding the regulation of suspension and termination of the activities of PEOs and to forward them for further careful review to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine.