For various reasons, a business may fail to execute a court judgment. According to Decision No. 01/2023/QĐ-CA of the High People’s Court in Da Nang dated June 12, 2023, on May 4, 2023, the Gia Lai Provincial People’s Court received a petition to initiate bankruptcy proceedings for Company L, requesting the court to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Company Đ Group.
This request was based on the fact that Company Đ Group had defaulted on a debt obligation of VND 14,764,848,038 since October 1, 2020. This debt was affirmed in the Appellate Commercial Business Judgment No. 03/2023/KDTM-PT dated February 8, 2023, of the Gia Lai Provincial People’s Court.
On May 16, 2023, the Gia Lai Provincial People’s Court issued Decision No. 100/2023/QĐ-PS to return the petition for bankruptcy proceedings, stating that the petition to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Company Đ Group due to its failure to pay the debt of VND 17,127,349,692, as determined in the legally effective judgment, did not comply with Point a, Clause 1, Article 35 of the Bankruptcy Law.
The court ultimately accepted the petition for reconsideration of the return of the bankruptcy request dated June 1, 2023, filed by Mrs. Nguyễn Thị S (the authorized representative of Company L) to the Chief Justice of the High People’s Court in Da Nang, based on the following grounds:
First, according to Clause 1, Article 4 of the Bankruptcy Law and Official Dispatch No. 199/TANDTC-PC dated December 18, 2020, the court found grounds to confirm that the principal debt of VND 14,764,848,038 owed by Company Đ Group to Company L had been affirmed in the Appellate Commercial Business Judgment No. 03/2023/KDTM-PT dated February 8, 2023.
This is a clear, specific debt, established through a legally effective judgment. Additionally, this appellate judgment determined that the due date for the debt was September 30, 2020. However, as of now, Company Đ Group has not paid Company L, exceeding the 3-month period since the debt’s due date.
Second, according to Article 41 of the Bankruptcy Law, Clause 2, Article 49 of the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement, and Clause 1, Article 3 of Joint Circular No. 07/2018/TTLT-BTP-VKSNDTC-TANDTC dated June 12, 2018, issued by the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and the Supreme People’s Court, concerning coordination in enforcing court decisions in bankruptcy cases:
Within 5 working days from the date of receiving notification of the acceptance of a bankruptcy case, the head of the civil judgment enforcement agency must issue a decision to temporarily suspend the enforcement of assets that the business or cooperative is required to enforce.
Third, under Clause 4, Article 36 of the Bankruptcy Law, the Gia Lai Provincial People’s Court argued that the debt had been resolved in Appellate Commercial Business Judgment No. 03/2023/KDTM-PT dated February 8, 2023, and was being enforced under the law on civil judgment enforcement.
Thus, the return of Company L’s petition to initiate bankruptcy proceedings was incorrect. Company L has the right to request the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings against Company Đ Group.
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-Lê Minh Phương-