THE WOLF THEISS GUIDE TO: Dispute Resolution in Central, Eastern & Southeastern Europe 2018 Edition THE WOLF THEISS GUIDE TO: Dispute Resolution in Central, Eastern & Southeastern Europe This 2018 Wolf Theiss Guide to Dispute Resolution in Central, Eastern & Southeastern Europe is intended as a practical guide to the general principles and features of the basic legislation and procedures in countries included in the publication. While every effort has been made to ensure that the content is accurate when finalised, it should be used only as a general reference guide and should not be relied upon as definitive for planning or making definitive legal decisions. In these rapidly changing legal markets, the laws and regulations are frequently revised, either by amended legislation or by administrative interpretation. Status of information: Current as of 1 January 2018 Conception, design, and editing: WOLF THEISS Rechtsanwälte GmbH & Co KG, Attorneys-at-Law Schubertring 6, 1010 Vienna, Austria www.wolftheiss.com © 2018 WOLF THEISS Rechtsanwälte GmbH & Co KG. All Rights Reserved. Dispute Resolution in Central, Eastern & Southeastern Europe CONTENT TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD 03 COUNTRY CHAPTERS ALBANIA 06 AUSTRIA 20 BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 38 BULGARIA 56 CROATIA 72 CZECH REPUBLIC 88 HUNGARY 104 KOSOVO 120 POLAND 136 ROMANIA 152 SERBIA 172 SLOVAK REPUBLIC 190 SLOVENIA 208 UKRAINE 226 OUR OFFICES 247 1 Dispute Resolution in Central, Eastern & Southeastern Europe FOREWORD FOREWORD As a leading law firm in CEE/SEE and home to one of the biggest dispute resolution teams in the region, we see it as our obligation to keep our clients up-to-date with legal developments that may affect their businesses. Global financial uncertainty has brought with it a growing need for dispute resolution services across the region, in particular, in heavily regulated sectors such as energy, financial services or healthcare. Unexpected questions may arise, such as “Should we initiate legal proceedings? Where and when? What legal tools and procedures are available to us? How do we stay one step ahead of competitors and adversaries? How do we avoid costly investigations so we can protect our reputation?” In response to this, we are very pleased to present the fourth edition of the Wolf Theiss Guide to Dispute Resolution in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. With the majority of our work involving cross-border representation, the Wolf Theiss Guide to Dispute Resolution is a source of information for those who seek to get a general overview of dispute settlement and the relevant legal developments in each of the countries where Wolf Theiss provides services: Albania, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The new guide follows the same structure as the previous editions. Each country chapter describes the legal system, the litigation process, business crime, insolvency, arbitration, and enforcement of arbitral awards and foreign judgments, and ends with a chart giving a summary of the relevant procedures and costs in the respective jurisdiction, plus handy practice tips. We trust that that you find the guide useful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Clemens Trauttenberg ¡ June 2018 Partner, Head of the Disputes Practice Group, Wolf Theiss I would like to thank all colleagues at Wolf Theiss who assisted in the preparation of this publication. Their efforts to ensure the continuing update of the Guide are very much appreciated. I would also like to acknowledge former Wolf Theiss Partner Bettina Knoetzl for her contributions to previous editions of the guide. 3 Dispute Resolution in Central, Eastern & Southeastern Europe WOLF THEISS REGION Warsaw POLAND Kyiv Prague CZECH UKRAINE REPUBLIC SLOVAK REPUBLIC Bratislava Vienna AUSTRIA Budapest HUNGARY Ljubljana ROMANIA SLOVENIA Zagreb CROATIA Bucharest BOSNIA & Belgrade HERZEGOVINA Sarajevo SERBIA BULGARIA Sofia ALBANIA EUROPE WOLF THEISS REGION WOLF THEISS DESK Warsaw POLAND Kyiv Prague CZECH UKRAINE REPUBLIC SLOVAK EUROPE REPUBLIC Bratislava Vienna AUSTRIA Budapest HUNGARY Ljubljana ROMANIA SLOVENIA Zagreb CROATIA Bucharest BOSNIA & Belgrade HERZEGOVINA Sarajevo SERBIA BULGARIA Sofia ALBANIA 5 6 Dispute Resolution in Central, Eastern & Southeastern Europe ALBANIA ALBANIA 7 1. LEGAL SYSTEM The Albanian legal system is based on codified principles of civil, criminal and administrative law. Judicial precedents are taken into consideration by courts, but without having a binding effect, except for unifying decisions issued by the Joint Colleges of the Supreme Court. 2. LITIGATION The Albanian court system is composed of District Courts, Courts of Appeal, Administrative Courts and Appellate Administrative Courts, Courts of Serious Crimes and Appellate Court of Serious Crimes, Military Courts and Appellate Military Courts, and the Supreme Court. There is also a Constitutional Court whose influence is increasing, especially due to an expansion of the “constitutional due process” review of other courts’ decisions. In each District Court (court of first instance), there are special court departments in charge to decide on: commercial disputes; disputes related to minors and family; and civil disputes. Cases in District Courts are heard by a single judge or a panel of three judges. Matters exclusively heard by a panel of three judges include: claims valued at more than ALL 20 million (approximately EUR 156,000); claims on declaring a person as missing or deceased; and claims on removing or limiting the capacity to act of a person. In the Courts of Appeal, cases are heard by a panel of three judges, while the High Court decides in panels of five judges. In the Supreme Court, Joint Panels also hear cases with the participation of all judges. The Joint Colleges of the Supreme Court are responsible for the unification and amendment of court practice. Penal, administrative and civil colleges established at the Supreme Court pre-hear the claims and decide whether the claim shall be rejected or refer the case for judgement to the panel of three judges. Decisions of the Supreme Court are proclaimed, along with the reasoning behind the decision, no later than 30 (thirty) days from the date of the termination of the judicial examination. Decisions of the Joint Panels, along with their reasoning, are published in the Periodical Bulletin of the Supreme Court. Decisions that serve the unification or amendment of court practice are published immediately in the next issue of the Official Gazette. In certain cases, courts may also grant interim measures. The Albanian court system is rather efficient, despite the fact that no precise time frame is provided for the rendering of judgments. The time frame is generally allowed to be reasonably defined by the judges. Decisions by the first instance courts (i.e., District Courts) may be appealed before the Courts of Appeal. As a general principle, all decisions issued by a court of first instance may be challenged in the Courts of Appeal, except for those cases when appeal is excluded by law. An appeal request may only be denied when: (i) the appeal is presented after the deadline provided by law; (ii) the appeal is made against a decision where an appeal is not permitted; or (iii) the appeal is made by an individual that is not legally entitled to file an appeal. 8 Dispute Resolution in Central, Eastern & Southeastern Europe ALBANIA Upon request of the parties, the Appeals Court may examine facts and other legal aspects examined by the court of first instance, and may allow the presentation of new evidence in support of the appeal. After considering the case, the Appeals Court can decide to: (i) uphold and leave in effect the decision of the first instance court; (ii) change the decision; (iii) revoke the decision and terminate the case; or (iv) revoke the decision and send the case back to the first instance court for retrial. Decisions issued by the Court of Appeals are final and may be challenged before the Supreme Court only when: (i) the law has been violated or applied incorrectly; (ii) there are grave violations of procedural norms (i.e. Article 467 of the Civil Procedure Code); (iii) decisive proof or evidence requested by the parties during trial has not been provided; (iv) the reasoning of the decision is clearly illogical; or (v) the provisions on jurisdiction and authority have been violated. Litigation costs are mainly composed of court and attorneys’ fees, expenses for expert opinions and witnesses (including remuneration for any business days missed), and translation costs. The fees, expenses and remunerations for witnesses and translators are defined by the Council of Ministers. The court and attorneys’ fees awarded to the plaintiff shall be charged to the defendant if the claim has been accepted by the court. However, if a party is exempted by the court with respect to the awarding of court fees, the fees shall be charged to the other party only if the claim has been accepted by the court. The defendant shall generally have the right to demand court fees be awarded in proportion to the refused part of the claim. The defendant shall have the right to demand court fees be awarded, even if the case is over. Final decisions of the court can be enforced by obtaining an instrument of immediate enforceability (“IEI”). The IEI gives its holder the right to have an enforcement order issued by the District court and to have the execution carried out immediately by the bailiffs’ office. The adjudication of administrative disputes is made through independent proceedings by the administrative courts and within a shorter period of time. The maximum term for administrative proceedings at the administrative courts of first instance is 60 (sixty) days. Administrative courts are organised as: (i) Administrative Courts of First Instance which are established and function in the same regions as Courts of Appeal; (ii) the Administrative Appellate Court - currently there is only one Appellate Administrative Court which is located in Tirana, Albania; and (iii) the Administrative College of Supreme Court.