On Friday 31st March 2017 Connexx, an International Collection & Enforcement Network, held its 13th General Assembly with member countries in Nice (France).

Our Network were pleased with the presence and accession of our new partner from Lithuania, ( you can find out more information regarding their enforcement procedures on our website). Connexx is pleased to announce that we are growing strongly throughout Eastern Europe.

With the presence of almost all members, the importance of the Network and the mutual cooperation was once again emphasised. During the afternoon, Board members of Connexx gave four presentations to around 50 Huissiers de Justice (Judicial Officers of France) who were representing Leximpact, the French Network.

The presentations explained the different collection and enforcement procedures in the following countries:

Bulgaria
Serbia
England and Wales

With the opening presentation, given by Alex Dockers our President, emphasizing the culture and expectations of Connexx.

We are seeing a strong increase in the number of cross-border debt recovery instructions throughout the network, which is very pleasing, again re-enforceing the need for collection and enforcement solutions.

Connexx is the mechanism by which a partner can provide an invaluable service to its client/partners within its own country for foreign claims.

On October 17, 2014 held at the Conference room of Clydesdale Bank Head Office in Glasgow, European Collections and Enforcement Network Connexx held its 8th General Assembly meeting. The President Alex Dockers welcomed the Network’s members.  Mr. Todor Lukov, enforcement officer of the Plovdiv District Court judicial area, the Republic of Bulgaria, participated in the work of the 8th General Assembly in the capacity of an observer. Officer Lukov informed the General assembly participants both on the Bulgarian system of civil enforcement, and the work of his organisation “Lukov & Gorchev” Enforcement Officers Partnership, in which he is one of the founding partners.

The participants of the 8th Connexx General Assembly (GA) dealt with issues related to the Network’s regular ongoing affairs, and to current problems in France, having in mind the recent Paris protest of the Republic’s huissiers. We also heard from the experiences of our Spanish delegates, who joined Connexx on its previous GA meeting in Tallinn, the Republic of Estonia.

On the events of the Glasgow General Assembly meeting, our hosts, Walker Love a firm of Scottish Messenger-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers, organised an Evening of Scottish Hospitality, on which traditional dishes were served with the amazing sounds of local folk music and culture. During the Evening of Scottish Hospitality the GA participants had the opportunity to meet with a number of lawyers, legal counselors, and other professionals from the Glasgow region.

May we also offer our sincere thanks to David Walker, for organising such a splendid event.

The 6th General Assembly took place in Lisbon Portugal on the 18th of October 2013. The meeting was held at the Altis Hotel and was well attended by member countries. Our President Mr Alex Dockers from Belgium welcomed everyone with discussions lasting until 3:30pm.

During the meeting, we were pleased to welcome Damir Site of Serbia as a full member. Damir is a qualified Lawyer who prefers to carry on his commercial business activities as a Judicial Officer. The system for Judicial Officers in Serbia is still very young, however Damir stated “I am very excited about the future of enforcement in my country, although quite new and currently geographically restricted. As the system of enforcement grows other opportunities will become available, becoming a full member of Connexx will widen my understanding of international enforcement and more importantly it will give me access to a wealth of knowledge and experience”.

During the meeting our President welcomed Jorge Castello Gasco and his senior associate also known as Jorge Gasco, who are two Justice Officers from Valencia in Spain, known as Procuradores. They explained that the system of civil justice in Spain is very different from other countries and that their function is to work very closely with Lawyers.  They can check the current status of any lawsuit, they are also able to access any records during the lawsuit, and provide a forecast on how long the civil case will take. They do however spend a considerable amount of time in Court negotiating the service of documents and legal procedures.

It was very interesting to hear about the enforcement system in Spain, as perhaps it is not as straightforward as one would hope.

As the day progressed, what became very interesting was that each member was invited to give an update on the legal and procedural changes that are due to take place within their respective countries. Marc Schmitz of Belgium informed us that huge changes are immanent; Marc notified us that Belgium’s inner cabinet has decided to merge judicial districts in each and every province, therefore cutting the number of districts from 27 down to 12. The change is one of the biggest for many years. However the end result will see many Judicial Officers merging their businesses to become larger legal entities. 

Martin Leyshon of England and Wales informed the members that new legislation will come into effect on April 6th 2014, when a single piece of Bailiff law will replace the 17 different forms of seizure governed by 59 different forms of legislation. It will be known as “Taking Control of Goods Act 2013” Martin stated “it has been a long time coming”.

Connexx members were then treated to a tour of Portugal’s National Chamber of the Procuradores by its President Jose’ Resende. We were very impressed with the professionalism of the Chamber and would wish to thank its President and his team for organising our 6th General Assembly in Portugal.