Creditors can now enforce their monetary claims faster and more efficiently.
This is due to the newly introduced electronic enforcement proceeding, an alternative to enforcing monetary claims with the standard order for payment.
In the new electronic proceeding, most communication with the court is carried out electronically, making the proceeding faster and more effective.
To further expedite the proceedings, all electronic payment orders are to be submitted to a single court, the District Court in Banská Bystrica. By so concentrating the filings, it is hoped the responsible court officials will become adept at the process.
To commence a new electronic proceeding, an application (available on the Slovak Ministry of Justice’s webpage) and any annexes to the application (such as deeds, declarations, etc.) must be filed electronically. A lawyer can help you with the digital conversion of the documents.
The court, also, delivers documents and decisions to participants electronically- to their Slovak electronic mailboxes, thus bypassing the often problematic Slovak postal services. Since 1 July 2017 every Slovak legal entity has an activated electronic mailbox.
Due to the lack of bureaucracy in the new process, costs can be reduced. Fees for the electronic process are only half the standard rate. Once paid, and after all other statutory requirements are met, the court will issue the payment order within a maximum of ten business days.
Substantively, in electronic enforcement proceedings, monetary claims are easier to prove. In a B2B situation, it is sufficient for Plaintiff to provide an invoice and a sworn statement that it has the enforced claim in its bookkeeping.
Upon being issued, the payment order will oblige the defendant to either pay it or appeal within 15 days from delivery.
An un-appealed payment order, or one where the appeal was denied, is considered a final judgement and can be given to a distrainor for collection.
If defendant wins an appeal on the decision, the electronic payment order will be cancelled. Plaintiff may then seek to continue recovery of the debt via an ordinary court proceeding.