site.btaDebt-collecting Companies, Arbitration Courts High on Agenda of National Ombudsman

Debt-collecting Companies, Arbitration Courts High on Agenda of National Ombudsman

Pernik, Western Bulgaria, April 4 (BTA) - Debt-collecting companies and arbitration courts are the Number 1 item on the immediate agenda of National Ombudsman Maya Manolova, Manolova said in a BTA interview.

Manolova said that a study she conducted has shown that the number of arbitration courts in Bulgaria exceeds 45. She describes them "as the latest form of extortion used by monopoly holders and debt-collecting companies to harass people". The Ombudsman is adamant that a court of arbitration administers justice in the interest of the entity that created it.

Manolova gave an example in which a debt of 3,700 leva increased to 21,500 leva after "going through an arbitration court".

Manolova said that a group comprising prominent law figures has started urgent work to address the problem. Legislative amendments will be proposed in two directions: a regulation of who can establish arbitration courts, the conditions the court has to meet, and its rules of work. The second issue is to exclude consumer disputes from the scope of work of arbitration courts. The amendments will concert the Code of Civil Procedure, the Consumers Protection Court and the International Commercial Arbitration Act.