On November, 9, 2018, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia passed the Law on Amendments to the Civil Procedure Law (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” No. 72/11, 49/13 – US, 74/13 – US and 55/14) – “hereinafter – the Law”.
The only change that has been envisaged under this Law is the amendment to Article 204 and it consists of the following:
- The person who has obtained from the defendant the object or the right on which the litigation is being prosecuted is allowed to enter into a lawsuit instead of the defendant, provided that both parties agree to this;
- The person who has obtained from the prosecutor the object or the right on which the litigation is being prosecuted, has the opportunity to enter a lawsuit instead of the prosecuter, on the basis of a written consent submitted by the prosecuter to the court;
- The provision of Article 204, paragraph 3 of the Civil Procedure Law, which governed the validity of the judgment in relation to the acquirer of the object or the right, which instead of the party entered into a lawsuit, has been removed.
Therefore, unlike the earlier valid Civil Procedure Law, no further request is required from the defendant to enter into a lawsuit of another person instead of the prosecuter, who has obtained the object or the right on which the litigation is being prosecuted. In order to enter into a lawsuit of another person, instead of a prosecutor, only his consent is sufficient.
In adopting this Law, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia had in mind the problems that arise during selling problem loans.
Namely, as a special problem, the sale of problematic loans by the bank is emphasized, especially during the litigation procedure in which the bank is a prosecutor. The Commercial Court of Appeal took the view that in this case the current court proceedings had to be completed. Also the Commercial Court of Appeal said that if a problematic loan is sold, the bank would eventually lose. This had practical consequences in terms of the need for a new owner of the problematic loan to start a new dispute, which significantly reduced the interest of customers for problematic loans.
Thus, the obstacle to the development of the market of problematic loans was the earlier valid legal solution, which also envisaged the consent of the defendant to enter into a lawsuit for a person who bought that kind loan
For this reason, the Government envisaged amending the Civil Procedure Law in the Strategy for Problem Loans (“RS Official Gazette” No. 72/15).
Attorney at law Damir Petrović
The information contained herein has been provided only for the purpose of general information and cannot be considered as a legal opinion or legal advice. Accordingly, the Law Firm Petrović Mojsić & Partners disclaims all responsibility and accept no liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all the contents contained herein.
