SERBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Aleksandar Ristić and Stefan Šilobad, Law Office Miroslav Stojanović
that the LES provides short and strict deadlines for the parties involved, as well as for the acting court itself (between three and eight days). In addition, oral hear - ings in enforcement proceedings are rarely scheduled and decisions on enforcement are generally adopt - ed ex parte – ie, without first serving the motion for enforcement to the debtor. If the debtor lodges an appeal against the enforcement decision, such appeal generally does not stay its enforcement. This allows the enforcement proceedings themselves to be car - ried out relatively quickly and effectively. However, the course and timing of each enforcement proceeding heavily depend on the actual circumstanc - es of the case, the means of enforcement proposed by the creditor, and the public bailiff’s assessment on whether they are adequate. For example, public sale of the debtor’s real property may take a lot more time (due to the many administrative steps involved) than seizing funds located in their bank accounts. In that respect, successful enforcement of a claim may take anywhere from a few weeks to several months (or even years). The costs involved comprise both official fees (ie, court and public bailiff fees) and lawyers’ fees, and depend both on the value of the claim being enforced and on the enforcement means and actions of the public bailiff. Court fees are relatively low – the highest court fee arising from filing of a motion for enforcement amounts to RSD48,750 (approximately EUR400) if done before a basic court, or RSD195,000 (approxi - mately EUR1,600) if done before a commercial court; these are calculated in accordance with the Serbian Law on Court Fees ( Zakon o sudskim taksama ). In contrast, public bailiff fees are generally charged at different stages of the proceedings – the maxi - mum amount of advance costs that must be paid by the creditor immediately upon filing of the motion for enforcement is RSD250,000 (approximately EUR2,100), while the success fee that is paid upon the satisfaction of the claim may amount to a maximum of RSD2 million (approximately EUR17,000); these are defined under the Public Bailiff Tariff ( Javnoizvršiteljska tarifa ).
In that respect, the LES foresees a general obliga - tion of the creditor to provide an advance settlement of official fees, while also providing that the debtor shall ultimately be liable for reimbursement of costs incurred by the creditor in the course of the enforce - ment, if explicitly requested by the creditor within eight days from the successful completion of the proceedings. However, the creditor is only entitled to request the reimbursement of costs that were justified, meaning that unjustified expenses (eg, those accumu - lated through the instigation of multiple enforcement proceedings based on the same enforceable title) will not be taken into account. All notable means for identifying a debtor’s assets under Serbian law are outlined in 1.1 Options to Iden- tify Another Party’s Asset Position and 2.2 Enforce- ment of Domestic Judgments . 2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judgments Lodging an Appeal 2.4 Post-Judgment Procedures for Determining Defendants’ Assets Under Serbian law, the defendant may oppose the enforcement decision by lodging an appeal ( žalba ) within eight days from the receipt of such decision. However, lodging an appeal generally does not stay the enforcement of the contested decision. The appeal itself must clearly state the grounds on which it is lodged, along with appropriate facts and evidence supporting it. In that respect, Article 74 LES foresees that the defendant may challenge the enforcement decision on various grounds, inter alia by arguing that: • the document on which the enforcement decision is based does not represent an enforceable title; • the enforceable title on which the enforcement decision is based has been annulled, revoked, amended or set aside, or is not yet enforceable; • the court or administrative settlement, or the notar - ial deed of settlement, on which the enforcement decision is based has been annulled or otherwise set aside; • the deadline for the debtor to voluntarily fulfil the obligation in question has not yet expired;
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