Opening of personal insolvency proceedings: comparative legal analysis
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The article is devoted to the study of the legal regulation of opening of proceedings in cases of insolvency of individuals in the context of a comparative legal analysis of the legislation of Ukraine and individual states of the European Union. The relevance of the study is due to the growing importance of the institution of insolvency of individuals as an important mechanism for resolving excessive indebtedness of citizens and ensuring a balance of interests of debtors and creditors in modern economic conditions. The article analyzes the features of the legal regulation of opening of proceedings in cases of insolvency of individuals in Ukraine in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Ukraine on Bankruptcy Procedures. The criteria for access to the insolvency procedure, the grounds for the debtor to apply to court and the mechanisms of judicial control at the preparatory stage of the case are considered. Special attention is paid to the analysis of legislative provisions that determine the actual signs of insolvency and the conditions for opening proceedings in the case. A comparative analysis of the relevant legal mechanisms in the legislation of Poland, Germany, Hungary, France, Lithuania and Estonia has been conducted. Various models of access of individuals to procedures for the settlement of excessive debt have been investigated, in particular, court-centered, negotiation and administrative approaches. It has been established that in most European legal systems, along with judicial procedures, mechanisms for preliminary out-of-court settlement of debts and debt restructuring are actively used, aimed at preventing excessive use of bankruptcy procedures and increasing the efficiency of debt settlement. It has been concluded that the stage of opening proceedings in cases of insolvency of individuals performs an important regulatory function, as it ensures verification of the presence of objective signs of insolvency and forms the procedural boundaries of the application of debt settlement procedures. The feasibility of further improving the legal regulation of this stage in Ukraine, taking into account European experience, is substantiated, in particular by developing mechanisms for preliminary debt settlement and clarifying the criteria for access to insolvency procedures.
Author: D. O. Voloshynov
Institution: Donetsk State University of Internal Affairs
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7164821327