Personal Liability in Bankruptcy: International Documents and the World Practice

Abstract

The article examines the conceptual aspects of the responsibility of certain categories of persons for the actions that led to bankruptcy. According to the practice that exists in the world, the personal responsibility of the officials of the debtor, whose actions affected the property status of the legal entity in the period preceding the bankruptcy, is part of the relevant legislation in many countries of the world. In the legislation of Ukraine, the responsibility of certain categories of persons for the deterioration of the debtor's property is set forth in the Code of Ukraine on Bankruptcy Procedures, the Criminal Code of Ukraine and the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences, and the consequences of non-fulfillment of the obligation are provided for in the Civil Code. One of the directions of the research on the property liability of the officials of the debtor is the study of the existing theoretical basis for the use of such a mesures in bankruptcy cases, as well as the state of consistency of the norms of bankruptcy legislation and the general provisions of the Civil Code of Ukraine and the norms of other laws. In this article the meaning of the recommendations for building effective bankruptcy systems are the World Bank Principles for Effective Bankruptcy Systems and Protection of Creditors/Debtors, the UNCITRAL Guide for Legislators on Insolvency Law, and the European Restructuring and Insolvency Directive has been disclosed. It is important to use them in the process of reforming the bankruptcy legislation in order to bring national legislation closer to the best world practice. When conducting the research, the method of systematic analysis of similar provisions of a number of laws was used, comparative analysis was utilized to clarify the conformity of the norms of the current legislation of Ukraine with the provisions of international documents, and the use of the functional method helped to draw conclusions of a practical nature. The article provides an analysis of general concepts in the field of bankruptcy and legal theory in general, which should help the Legislator to improve the provisions of the mentioned laws, and the courts to issue more reasoned decisions.