The discharge of consumer bankruptcy cannot harm creditors
Publication date: October 25, 2023
Article 361 of the Polish bankruptcy law provides for an order for the court to discontinue bankruptcy proceedings as soon as the conditions listed exhaustively in this provision occur (resolution of the Regional Court in Szczecin of December 23, 2015, VIII Gz 236/15, LEX No. 1964121). The court issues a decision ex officio, which does not exclude an appropriate request for information from the trustee.
The decision on discontinuation refers to the stage of the so-called proper bankruptcy proceedings, and not the proceedings ending with the decision to announce bankruptcy.
Pursuant to Art. 29a of the Polish Bankruptcy Law, consumer bankruptcy cannot be dismissed if it leads to harm to creditors.
As indicated in the justification for the draft amendment to the Bankruptcy Law, introduced on January 1, 2016, the change introduced by Art. 29a solves the significant problem of creditors submitting applications of a purely debt collection nature, aimed at forcing the debtor to fulfill an obligation that is, moreover, sometimes controversial. After obtaining satisfaction of the debt, the creditor usually withdraws the application, and even if he does not do so, the court dismisses the application due to the applicant’s lack of standing to further support the application. This practice harms other creditors.
