Nationwide electronic order for payment procedure ensures quicker settlement of claims for payment

01. October 08

Starting from 1 October 2008, electronic petitions for expedited order for payment procedure can be submitted in Estonia.order for payment procedure is the simplest, quickest and the most resource-sparing way of reaching a judgment in case of claims that are not disputed, e.g. in the case of a claim for child support or a minor debt owed to a neighbour.

 

 

While some years ago even the simplest disputes often meant lengthy judicial proceedings due to which many people gave up in the fight for their rights, in the expedited order for payment procedure debtors (incl. parents who refrain from supporting their children) are ordered to pay their debts on the basis of the petition for expedited order for payment procedure.

As from today one does not need to fill in the petition form printed from the Internet or obtained from a court office and then send the petition to court by post or e-mail. Now the petition can be submitted to the court electronically and is therefore processed automatically.

According to Marko Aavik, a Deputy Secretary-General with the Ministry of Justice, this innovation will render proceedings quicker and more understandable for people: “People will receive a judgment concerning their claims quicker than before. As it is now possible to track the course of one’s claim on the Internet at any time, a single mother, for instance, does not have to wait in suspense for the judgment of the court regarding the child’s father who has failed to support his child.”

“On the other hand, this electronic innovation will enable the state to save a half of the costs of keeping up the order for payment procedure. As the principal data of petitions are checked electronically before they reach a court and the procedural documents are created automatically in the court, the speed of proceedings in the court will increase notably," Aavik explained. “This means that more claims will be processed and the period of proceedings will be much shorter.”

According to Aavik, the new system does not mean, however, that the proceedings of all claims will take exactly the same amount of time. “The duration of proceedings depends largely on how quickly and successfully documents can be served on the debtor,” Aavik explained. “In the case that documents can be served on the debtor without major problems, the enforcement document (i.e. the payment order) should ideally be received in the electronic proceedings in less than a month.”

Aavik assures that the new system respects the rights of debtors, as well. “In the case that a debtor wishes to submit an objection, he or she does not have to do so electronically, but can send the objection by post. This means that courts will accept debtors’ objections, whether sent by post or e-mail, even after the transfer to fully electronic proceedings,” Aavik said.

According to Marko Aavik, petitions for European order for payment procedure cannot be processed electronically yet. “This will probably be possible in the future. All other claims that are currently acceptable in the expedited order for payment procedure can and will be processed electronically, including claims for support,” Aavik added.

Until now the new service was available to people who submitted their claims against debtors living in the jurisdiction of the Pärnu County Court. Now the service can be used when raising a claim against any debtor.

Electronic applications for order of payment procedure can be submitted at www.e-toimik.ee.