Enforcement & Bankruptcy

Enforcement law, an inevitable part of commercial life and debt relations, is a branch of law that ensures creditors get their receivables and debtors are protected against unfair proceedings. Lawyers known as "Enforcement Attorneys" or "Bankruptcy Attorneys" play a critical role in accelerating collection and preventing loss of rights.

1. What Does an Enforcement Attorney Do?

An enforcement attorney is not just "the person who goes for seizure". They manage the legal strategy of the process as both creditor and debtor representative.

Duties as Creditor Representative:

• Fast Collection: Identification of debtor's assets (bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, etc.) and initiation of seizure proceedings.
• Precautionary Seizure: Obtaining "precautionary seizure" decision from court against debtor's possibility of hiding assets, freezing assets as a precaution.
• Negotiable Instruments Follow-up: Execution of proceedings based on negotiable instruments such as checks, promissory notes and bills (Seizure Specific to Negotiable Instruments).
• Case Follow-up: Filing annulment of disposition cases, objection removal cases and bounced check cases.

Duties as Debtor Representative:

• Objection to Proceedings: Stopping proceedings by objecting to unfairly initiated enforcement proceedings within the deadline.
• Negative Declaratory Case: Filing a case to prove non-indebtedness.
• Seizure Removal: Ensuring removal of unfair or irregular seizures (salary, household goods, etc.).

2. Most Common Cases in Enforcement Law

Proceedings under the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (EBL) are not limited to enforcement offices. Disputes are usually resolved in Enforcement Courts or Civil/Commercial Courts.

3. Bounced Check and Criminal Liability

A check used as payment instrument in commercial life bouncing produces not only legal but also criminal consequences.

• Enforcement Proceedings: If the check is not paid on maturity, proceedings are initiated through "Seizure Specific to Negotiable Instruments". The debtor's objection period is 5 days in this process.
• Imprisonment: Under Article 5 of the Check Law, judicial fine up to 1500 days is imposed on complaint against the person issuing bounced check. If the judicial fine is not paid, it is directly converted to imprisonment.

4. What is Precautionary Seizure? What are the Requirements?

It is a "temporary seizure" decision obtained from the court by the creditor to prevent the debtor from hiding assets without waiting for the case or proceedings to conclude.

Requirements:

1. The receivable must be due (mature).
2. The receivable must not be secured by pledge.
3. The receivable must be a monetary debt.
4. A certain percentage (usually 15%-20%) must be deposited as security to the court.

5. Can Enforcement Proceedings Be Conducted Against a Deceased Person?

Since a deceased person's capacity to be a party has ended, enforcement proceedings cannot be initiated against a dead person. If initiated, it becomes irregular and is cancelled.

• However, if proceedings were initiated while the debtor was alive, they can continue against heirs after death.
• If heirs have not rejected the inheritance (renunciation of inheritance), they are also liable for the debt with their personal assets.