A stay of enforcement as regulated by the Slovenian Enforcement and Security Act (ZIZ) represents a delay and an exception to an otherwise continuous enforcement procedure. Its purpose is to prevent disproportionate interference with the rights of the debtor by considering their social conditions or other exceptional circumstances, since the rule of law and the welfare state must not neglect the protection of the debtor and cannot allow just any interference with their rights (Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia). A stay of enforcement requested by the debtor serves as a safeguard mechanism, suspending enforcement until its admissibility is resolved. However, the first paragraph of Article 71 of the ZIZ enacts extremely strict legal conditions for stay of enforcement, in particular in the light of ensuring the creditor's right to judicial protection and preventing possible abuse of law by the debtor. The 4th point of the second paragraph of Article 71 of the ZIZ provides the possibility of stay of enforcement for other specific well-founded reasons, which allows the debtor in a difficult life situation to obtain a stay of enforcement without meeting the strict conditions of the first paragraph of Article 71 of the ZIZ. However, this possibility is limited for the debtor – a stay of enforcement may be granted only once and for a maximum of three months, which makes it difficult for the debtor to achieve a real improvement in their circumstances within such timeframe. On the one hand, the key purpose of enforcement proceedings is to ensure the payment of the creditor's claims, while on the other hand, the of stay of enforcement protects the rights of the debtor. Due to the strict legal conditions and restrictive case-law, debtors struggle to prove that immediate enforcement would cause irreparable harm, reducing the availability of this mechanism. While a more flexible approach could enhance debtor protection, it might also increase uncertainty for creditors. Establishing an appropriate balance between the rights of creditors and debtors remains a particular challenge for the legislator.
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