Compulsory Enforcement Service and other state bodies hold discussion on issues related to electronic inquiries and electronic document circulation

Today, a working discussion on the draft decisions of the Government establishing the procedure for circulation of documents between courts and the Compulsory Enforcement Service, as well as for the Compulsory Enforcement Service to make inquiries to bodies provided for by law took place today at the initiative of the "Centre for Legislation Development and Legal Research" Foundation of the Ministry of Justice.

Based on the job functions, representatives of interested state bodies exchanging information with the Compulsory Enforcement Service participated in the discussion.

According to Director of the Foundation Tigran Dadunts, circulation of documents between several public administration bodies and the Compulsory Enforcement Service with regard to certain functions is currently carried out electronically based on the relevant decisions of the Government and joint orders of the Minister of Justice and other bodies. Inquiries to certain state bodies regarding the debtor and his or her property are also made according to this procedure for circulation of documents. "Such un-unified and uncoordinated regulations foreseen in different periods of time and through different acts have an impact on the effectiveness of the system of circulation of documents, contain risks of possible contradictions in these acts, make the process of circulation of documents a process that is carried out based on uncoordinated and un-unified criteria," Tigran Dadunts noted, adding that, in this regard, prior to the amendments of 9 July 2019, part 5 of Article 31 of the Law "On compulsory enforcement of judicial acts" prescribed that the search for property of a debtor shall be carried out through inquiries to the Real Estate Cadastre, the State Register, the depositary, as well as the tax, customs, and state automobile inspection authorities. According to the Director of the Foundation, the amendments of 9 July 2019 clarified that the specified inquiries may be made electronically, and the forms for electronic inquiries and the responses to them, as well as the procedure for making inquiries shall be established by the Government. "Therefore, this regulation provides the opportunity to regulate communication between the Compulsory Enforcement Service and state bodies set forth in part 5 of Article 31 of the Law "On compulsory enforcement of judicial acts" with regard to making electronic inquiries and receiving responses to those inquiries with the purpose of searching for the debtor and his or her property, and unified criteria underlie these regulations,” Tigran Dadunts noted, emphasising that, taking into consideration the aforementioned, a draft decision of the Government has been developed, in regard to which many recommendations have been received from interested persons, including recommendations regarding the introduction of a new system of circulation of documents with a new approach.

Afterwards, the participants of the discussion made their comments and suggestions regarding the draft.