Notice of freezing and confiscation orders in accordance with the Regulation (UE) 2018/1805

Part 1. Registry requirements

1. What is the procedure to lodge or present these judicial orders in the Land Register? Particularly electronic.

The courts shall deliver their documents to the administrative authorities in the of cadastre electronically from their electronic mailbox with the appropriate level of authorization. Courts shall only deliver electronically in accordance with Act No 305/2013 Coll. on the electronic form of exercising the powers of public authorities and on amending and supplementing certain acts (Act on e-Government).

2. Possibility of registering these orders in the event that who appears as the owner of a property according to the land registry («A») is a different person from the defendant (or person «B») who is issued a freezing or confiscation order against

1.1 Should the judgment be registered even if the owner according to the land register is “A” and the judicial measure is concerning to “B”?

§ 36a (1) Act No 162/1995 Coll. – Cadastral Act

If the ownership right to immovable property is registered on the title deed and another public deed or another deed which is not based on the cadastral data is submitted for recording, the district office shall not record and shall notify the person who submitted the deed and the person in whose favour the right to immovable property is evidenced according to the deed of the property. At the same time, the district office shall invite the persons concerned to enter into an agreement or to bring an action in court for the establishment of the right to immovable property.

§ 36a (2)

If a court decision which is binding on the person registered in the cadastre and directly affects his right to real estate is submitted for recording, the district office shall record

a) according to the terms of the court decision,
b) by indicating the state before the legal act, voluntary auction or other legal fact, if the court has ruled that the legal act, voluntary auction or other legal fact is null and void,
c) by indicating the status before the decision on the authorisation of the entry, before the recording or before the decision on the correction of an error in the cadastral register, if the administrative court has decided to annul them.

1.2 Otherwise, should the land register refuse the registration or apply for any type of clarification?

§ 36a (3). If a court decision is submitted for recording, which, as a result of another legal change, is not binding on the person registered in the cadastre, the district office shall not record the record and shall enter a note on the issuance of the court decision in the cadastre for a period of two months from the date of its entry. At the same time, the district office shall invite the person to whom the right to the immovable property is vested according to the court decision to file a lawsuit in court within the aforementioned two-month period for the determination of the right to the immovable property.

1.3 : This registry owner (“A”) has no other legal guarantees in the land register system. Slovak law applies the subjective binding nature of the judgment in accordance with § 36a of the Cadastral Act.

3. Type and duration of the registration of these orders

• A freezing order and a confiscation order are considered different; each one of them leads to a different registration or notice. (applies in the same way as for international sanctions)
• A freezing order can only lead to indefinite registrations. (pending the final outcome of proceedings which do not adjudicate on the substance of the matter preceding the freezing order)
• A freezing order may lead to a provisional or temporary registration or notice and also to registrations for an indefinite period.
• A confiscation order may lead to a provisional or temporary registration or notice and also to registrations for an indefinite period.
• In these cases, the judicial orders corresponding to opening procedures lead to a registration for an indefinite period of time.
• In these cases, the judicial orders corresponding to opening procedures lead to a provisional or temporary registration or a registration for an indefinite period of time, depending on the judicial decision.
• In these cases, the judicial orders corresponding to opening procedures lead to a provisional or temporary registration or a registration for an indefinite period of time, in accordance with the criteria of the land register system.

Part 2. Registry effects

1. Effects of the freezing order once registered

• A warning to third parties
• Prohibition of disposal: the owner is not allowed to sell, mortgage or carry out any other act of disposal on the property. The order blocks any possible registration.

2. Effects of the confiscation order once registered

• A warning to third parties
• Prohibition of disposal: the owner is not allowed to sell, mortgage or carry out any other act of disposal on the property. The order blocks any possible registration.

3. What is the registry proceeding and moment in which the opening procedures of freezing or confiscation are applied for registration?

On 1 January 2021, Act No. 312/2020 Coll. on the Enforcement of Decisions on the Seizure of Assets and the Administration of Seized Assets and on Amendments and Additions to Certain Acts (hereinafter referred to as «Act No. 312/2020») entered into force, with the exception of the provisions of Article I, §§ 11 to 17 and § 18, paragraphs 1 to 3 and paragraphs 5 and 6, Article III, § 98a, paragraph 3, point 18, Art. The postponed entry into force concerns the establishment of a new Office for the Administration of Seized Assets as administrator of seized assets in order to ensure the organisational, procedural and material readiness of this Office for the exercise of the proposed competence.

Seizure of property shall be understood as a temporary restriction of the right to dispose of the seized property. The Act is a general legal regulation in the part regulating the management of seized property, which must always be seen in the context of specific regulations governing the management of specific types of property. The Act does not address the issue of the administration of property forfeited to the State, i.e. property that has been confiscated.

Act No. 312/2020 Coll. regulates the execution of decisions on seizure of property issued by

a) in criminal proceedings, including the execution of decisions on seizure of property within the framework of international cooperation of judicial authorities in criminal matters,
b) in tax administration,
c) in proving the origin of property,
d) in the execution of international sanctions.

4. What are the executing authorities of these orders in this national system and what is the role of the land registers?

For the purposes of this Act, the competent authority shall mean the public authority which issued the decision on seizure of property. After the filing of an indictment or a petition for the approval of a plea bargain and the acceptance of a sentence, the competent authority shall be the court.

LIST OF LEGALLY BINDING ACTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO BE TRANSPOSED

Directive 2014/42/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the freezing and confiscation of the proceeds of crime in the European Union (OJ L 127, 29.4.2014).

Part 3. National land registry experience

Forfeiture of property – is the result of criminal proceedings and the penalty of forfeiture of property is imposed by a court decision.

The purpose of a protective measure is to eliminate adverse consequences that could arise in the course of a particular civil litigation proceeding. The purpose of a precautionary measure is therefore to provide rapid protection of the rights of the subject of the application for a precautionary measure which have been infringed or threatened. In view of the purpose of that procedural institution, the principle of adversarial procedure and the principle of equality of arms do not apply as strictly in the proceedings and the decision on the application for a protective measure as they do in the proceedings on the merits.

The General Court does not therefore have to observe all the formalities in ascertaining the relevant facts, as is the case in a proper procedural inquiry on the merits, but it is sufficient that the fact proved appears to it, in the light of all the circumstances, to be highly probable. This is true both at the level of the decision at first instance and at the level of the decision at the Court of Appeal.