Pursuant to the Amendments to the Enforcement and Security Act, the E-Auction platform was launched today. This platform will enable electronic public bidding, i.e. sale of moveable and immovable property as part of enforcement proceedings.
The entire sales procedure will be conducted electronically via the platform, starting from the announcement of the start of the auction to the bidding and, finally, to the announcement of the winning bids. From 1 September 2020, electronic sale of moveable and immovable property in enforcement proceedings will be conducted exclusively.
Until then, public bailiffs may choose how to conduct the sales. ‘To see what is being auctioned for sale in enforcement proceedings, the public and other interested parties should visit the following website: eaukcija.sud.rs.
The entire sales procedure is transparent and fair to all bidders, compared to the previous procedure in which a relatively small circle of bidders participated’, Assistant Justice Minister Jelena Deretić stated. Ms Deretić explained that all interested parties and private individuals with a registered (certified) electronic signature have the right to participate in electronic auctions, and that all bidders would be anonymous making it impossible for them and the public bailiffs conducting the procedure to identify persons behind identification numbers which the system automatically assigns to those who register as a bidder. ‘Aside transparency, the second main objective is to achieve the highest possible sales price which ultimately benefits both the debtor and the creditor (claimant)’, Ms Deretić noted.
To use the platform, it is necessary to first obtain an electronic certificate (signature) in line with all the positive regulations. For anyone wishing to bid in the auctions, the annual user fee is 2,000 dinars.
Anyone not registered as a bidder will still be able to access the platform and all the relevant information, as a way of ensuring full transparency of the sales procedures.Examples of the relevant information which each public bailiff enters into the system and which is kept in the database, are: information about the debtor and the creditor, information about individuals prohibited from participating in a given auction, information about individuals exempt from making payment guarantees, details of the surface of the property on sale, the legal basis of acquisition of the given property with photographs and videos, if possible.
The purpose of automatising the public bidding procedure is three-fold: to increase legal certainty through a transparent procedure, to achieve efficiency, and to eliminate all known problems in public sales to prevent fraud. The end result should be an increased public trust in the public bailiffs as holders of public authority.
The new legislative framework in the area of enforcement and the launching of the e-Auction platform would not have been possible without the support of the USAID Rule of Law Project and the European Union’s Project EU for Justice −Support for Chapter 23.To read Ms Deretić’s full statement, please visit the following website: www.infobiro.tv