This article focuses on bankruptcy offences in Poland. Bankruptcy proceedings are initiated in the event of the debtor’s insolvency. Its main aim is the assertion of claims by all creditors. The offences related to bankruptcy proceedings form are designed to protect each of the stages of the bankruptcy procedure.
In the first stage, when the prerequisites for filing a bankruptcy petition are actualised, Article 586 of the Code of Commercial Companies provides for liability for failure to file a bankruptcy petition for a company under commercial law. Article 522(1) of The Bankruptcy Law Act criminalises the provision of false data in the filed application.
The second stage is when the court decides whether or not to open bankruptcy proceedings. Then Article 522(2) of The Bankruptcy Law Act criminalises the provision of false information regarding the debtor’s assets.
Finally, in the third stage, i.e. during open bankruptcy proceedings, when the trustee establishes the components of the bankruptcy estate, Article 523 of The Bankruptcy Law Act provides for liability for:
- failing to release assets or documentation to the trustee;
- failing to provide the trustee or the bankruptcy judge with information regarding the bankrupt’s assets;
- failing to provide the trustee with data or documents relevant to public companies.
Bankruptcy offences in Criminal Code
Irrespective of the above, a creditor who has been wronged by the conduct of the debtor may notify the authorities. There are also several offences indicated in the Criminal Code, referring to the state of bankruptcy such as:
- Article 300 of the Criminal Code (preventing or depleting the satisfaction of a creditor),
- Article 301 paragraph 2 and 3 of the Criminal Code (faulted going bankrupt)
- Article 302 of the Criminal Code (satisfaction of selected creditors, bribery in enforcement proceedings).
The full version of this article is available in Polish here.
