National Chamber of
Who is the Judicial Officer?
The Office
The office of judicial officer is still often underestimated. The judicial officer is the best person to act in the case of uncontested debts. The National Chamber of Judicial Officers wishes to promote itself better towards the financial and economic sector and, more particularly, towards businesses. The Chamber firstly wishes to improve knowledge about the position and specific duties of the judicial officer.
A Mediator
The judicial officer makes sure that judgments and rulings are also enforced and is authorised to that end as a public ministerial official. He can make findings and take all steps in the procedure that can lead to the collection of a debt, except for representing his client in court. The judicial officer is obliged to inform both parties about their rights and obligations and, where appropriate, can also act as a mediator between them. This often leads to a settlement, which is far less time-consuming and still gives the claimant the best result. By way of example, the final step after the attachment on goods - the forced sale - only actually needs to go ahead in 2% of the cases.
Finger on the Pulse
A letter of demand from a judicial officer carries weight because, as an officer, he epitomises the forced sale. A judicial officer who always operates within a well-defined territory - his own judicial district - also has his finger on the pulse both with regard to matters and the people involved. He often knows the background, the ability of debtors to pay, and can assess whether it is worthwhile to institute proceedings. In this way, he protects you from incurring unnecessary costs. You are not left feeling that good money is being thrown after bad. The National Chamber of Judicial Officers is also trying within the profession to follow in the footsteps of social and economic trends. The Collective Debt Settlement Act also has repercussions within the profession. The judicial officer may be appointed by the court as a debt mediator.
The Collection Agency
Other institutions are playing an increasing role where debt collection is necessary. More specifically, it is mostly collection agencies that have been making their presence felt lately. Since 1 July 2003, collection agencies that act against debtors with the capacity of consumer, must comply with certain civil and administrative obligations as laid down in the Act of 20 December 2002 (Belgian Official Journal of 29 January 2003). When their attempts to collect the debt amicably prove unsuccessful, they moreover do not have the power to institute proceedings. The judicial officer does have that power. As the judicial officer applies an official tariff, there are also no surprises in this regard.
The Administration of Justice
The National Chamber is aware that debt collection and, more specifically, summary proceedings are still too time-consuming and expensive and not really geared towards the business community. It is moreover a known fact that the debtor in an uncontested case seldom has recourse to a remedy. The available figures come from France, where the debtor does not seek recourse in 93% of the cases.
We will be making proposals in the immediate future to adapt these summary proceedings so that a judgment can be obtained quicker, cheaper and in a straightforward way. We appreciate how important it is, particularly to SMEs - which mostly operate on a tight budget and are forced to resort to expensive lines of credit because of increasing non-payment by debtors - that the collection procedure for uncontested debts be adapted. Judicial officers are not asking to be able to represent their clients in court. However, certain cases can frequently be spared from time-consuming legal proceedings, which would be to the claimant's advantage. It is perfectly possible to amend the Act in such a way that the debtor’s rights are optimally protected.
Judicial officers are also asking that the judgment give them more scope to manoeuvre as there are still many debtors who succeed in concealing their assets. They believe it would be expedient for the legislator to try and remedy this problem.
