Solidarity and Debt Collection from the Point of View of the Claimant; the Principle of Proportionality

Abstract

Although judicial enforcement can be considered one of the popular professions today, enforcement agents themselves are much less popular, they could even be called the "black sheep" of law. Should this necessarily be the case in the future or will this profession have a better reputation?
In my research I examine the relationship between solidarity and judicial enforcement from different perspectives. I suggest that new systems should be developed to link enforcement procedures to a more reasonable and possibly fairer social system.
The primary aim of establishing these new systems is to help debtors, who are definitely in a difficult situation, but this would obviously also have an impact on claimants, since it could facilitate procedures and would also provide an incentive for debtors.
In common parlance, solidarity means mutual commitment and the willingness to help each other. In my opinion, the emphasis is on reciprocity, i.e. the aim would be to build a consensus of solidarity in which, similarly to social security, the burden is shared on the basis of performance. Although I consider solidarity to be essential for both parties in the course of the procedures, in this study I do not elaborate on the aspect of debtors and only focus on the claimants’ point of view. I am doing this because debtors are getting the attention they need in the media and through various organisations and state measures which help them, while much less notice is taken of claimants. It seems as if debtors deserve absolute protection, while we tend to condemn those who have claims.
Presumably this can be due to the unpleasant feeling that many of us have already experienced in our lives, when the guilt is not of the person who owes, but of the person who rightfully wants to get it back.
In my view, it is not fair to place the interests of one party ahead of the interests of the other party, i.e. to take measures that benefit only one party. Just as proportionality and gradualness are fundamental principles in implementing debt collection procedures, solidarity must be achieved proportionately, as well. In the words of Gábor Iványi, Methodist minister: „If you don't give the other one what you'd expect in a similar situation, maybe one day you'll have no hope of solidarity.”