Number of asset forfeiture cases at Slovak courts fell 62% last year

Thanks to new legislation effective as of January 1, 2020, the number of asset forfeiture cases at Slovak courts fell 62% (by 1.9m) to 1.1m last year. In 2019, courts were only able to close 280,000 forfeiture cases. By law, creditors are allowed to re-open the forfeiture if they expect a positive yield, as the debt itself is not forgiven. Collection agencies condemned the legislation, as it hurt creditors in the pandemic year. However, only cases older than five years where yield was almost nil during the past 18 months could be closed. The legislation helped to free up courts and people no longer facing asset forfeiture returned to the labor market.

(Trend/8)