JUDGMENT ENFORCEMENT IN WESTERN BALKANS

Damir Šite
Secretary General of the Balkan Enforcement Initiative

The paper wishes to analyse the similarities and the differences in judgment enforcement practices existing in the Western Balkans region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia). In its first section, the paper presents alternatives in the enforcement formation stage, listing varieties in national enforcement title catalogues, as well as scrutinizing the legal nature and legal effects embodied by a writ of enforcement, or its absence. The second section deals with the enforcement implementation stage, presenting applicable enforcement assets (personal, real, or intellectual property, receivables, negotiable instruments, various ownership interests, freezing order). In addition, the paper analyses the statutory absence of the gradus executionis principle, though its reflections can still be traced in manners enforcement is implemented in the region. In its last section, the paper deals with different national enforcement agent structures. Having in mind that almost all Western Balkans jurisdictions (except Bosnia and Herzegovina) have recently introduced the French (even Napoleonic) concept of a self-employed judicial officer (huissier de justice), the paper also presents their prerogatives and connections with state administration.

Keywords: judgment enforcement, Western Balkans, writ of enforcement, means of enforcement, enforcement agent.

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