12. oktoobril kaitseb õigusteaduskonnas doktoritööd Signe Viimsalu teemal "The meaning and functioning of secondary insolvency proceedings" (Teiseste maksejõuetusmenetluste mõiste, tähendus ja funktsioneerimine).
Juhendajad: prof. prof Paul Varul ja prof Bob Wessels
Oponendid: prof. Stefania Bariatti Milano ülikoolist ja Rimvydas Norkus Romeriuse ülikoolist (Leedu).
The legal provisions applicable to all situations of cross-border insolvency are of very great practical importance, both to debtors and creditors alike, and at the same time they raise questions of considerable interest from the standpoint of legal theory and principle. The Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000, 29 May 2000 on Insolvency Proceedings (hereinafter: the Regulation) aims to provide the EU-wide regulation of international jurisdiction, applicable law and recognition to enable efficient and effective operation of cross-border insolvency proceedings.
In current thesis, the author has focused on the analysis of secondary insolvency proceedings opened after main insolvency proceedings. The concept of secondary insolvency proceedings is an exceptional phenomenon. The Regulation does not establish any limit to the number of secondary insolvency proceedings which may be opened after main insolvency proceedings upon the establishment of an insolvent debtor within the meaning of Article 2 (h) of the Regulation in the relevant Member State. However, the Regulation is based on the principle of respect for substantive diversity that each Member State retains its own insolvency law.
The main purpose of the current thesis was to find answers to the following questions: whether secondary insolvency proceedings are justified and necessary; and if so, what changes are needed in the national laws of the Member States and in the Regulation to facilitate efficient and effective administration of several cross-border insolvency proceedings pending simultaneously in the European Union.
In the current thesis the author has analysed the whole course of the secondary insolvency proceedings starting from the opening and recognition, followed by the conduct, stay and closure of secondary insolvency proceedings. In the first chapter of the current thesis the author has focused on the essence of the secondary insolvency proceedings. The second chapter of the thesis is concentrated on the opening and recognition of the secondary insolvency proceedings. In the third chapter the author examined how secondary insolvency proceedings function. The fourth chapter of the current thesis is concentrated on the stay and closure of the secondary insolvency proceedings.
The conclusion of the thesis is that secondary insolvency proceedings may be justified and necessary although several changes are needed in the national laws of the Member States and in the Regulation to facilitate efficient and effective administration of several cross-border insolvency proceedings pending simultaneously in the European Union. As a practical result of the Regulation, a distinction should be made to the national insolvency proceedings of the Member States, namely national proceedings unrelated to the Regulation and national proceedings related to the Regulation. Amendments to national laws should be made in as far as national laws may give rise to questions as to the supremacy of the Regulation or when amendments are certain to contribute to the working of the text and aim of the Regulation, provided those amendments are certain to be of a pure facilitating nature and are certain not to give rise to any discrepancies. Therefore, the author is also inclined to the view that further approximation of insolvency laws of the Member States is needed in the future.