SECURING A FUTURE ACTION

By making provision for relief of future claims by way of injunction, the Law provides the creditor with the possibility to secure in advance his future claims against a debtor. The purpose of the procedure is to prevent the debtor from disposing of the property prior or during the legal proceedings to the detriment of the creditor’s interest. Thus, when there is a legal interest for the creditor to prosecute a claim, he can seek from the Court, on the grounds of art.390 of the Civil Code, a cautionary judgment (a preliminary injunction) which secures relief of his claims upon completion of future legal proceedings. The court competent to pronounce itself on the request for injunction (the collateral security measures), is the court within whose generic competence the future claim falls.
In his petition to the court the creditor should state the possible grounds of the future claim / e.g. evidence for collectible receivables, other proofs, etc./, as well as the need for adopting collateral security measures /e.g. the debtor’s refusal to pay, the possible risk that the debtor may dispose of his property to the creditor’s disadvantage, etc./. However, no injunctions are admissible for securing monetary claims against the State, governmental institutions, municipalities and medical-treatment facilities pursuant to art.5, para.1 of the Medical-Treatment Facilities Act. Coercive enforcement of an injunction for a monetary claim through garnishment of the receivables is also not allowed / i.e. un-confiscatable receivables /.
The plaintiff-creditor should specify the type of injunction of the future action being sought and the amount claimed. The injunction measures that can be enforced are as follows: garnishment of the bank accounts of the debtor, injunction of the debtor’s immovable property, imposing a restraint on the use of the debtor’s automobile, suspension of the execution, and any other appropriate measures set by the court. The injunction measure being sought should be adequate to the need for collateral security. This means that if the amount of the debt is small, then it will not be possible to request an injunction over an immovable property as this would be disproportionate to the required collateral security measure given the size of the debt. The court has no right to grant an injunction measure different from the one requested by the plaintiff.
The request is examined in a closed session on the day it is received and is granted if the court decides that the future action is /1/ reasonable and well founded and /2/ there is a need for injunction measures. Having allowed the injunction measures, the court issues an injunctive order / in most cases upon provision of a guarantee by the creditor to the amount of 10% of the price of the action/ and sets a time limit for lodging the future action, which cannot exceed one month. If within that term the plaintiff fails to give proof for bringing a legal action, the court dissolves the injunction.
In cases when the Court of First Instance has not granted an injunction, the plaintiff has the right to appeal to a court of higher instance, in which case a copy of the appeal is not presented to the debtor. The moment the debtor finds out about the injunction is the moment he is served with a notification of the imposed injunction through an official receiver, or through the Registry Agency or the Court as prescribed by the law for the different cases. From that date onward starts the 7-day term within which the debtor can appeal the imposed injunction.