COVID-19 – The Catalyst of a Legislative Reform in the Field of Insolvency
COVID-19 – The Catalyst of a Legislative Reform in the Field of Insolvency

Author(s): Ionel Didea, Diana Maria Ilie
Subject(s): Commercial Law
Published by: Societatea de Stiinte Juridice si Administrative
Keywords: Covid-19; insolvency measures; Law no.55/2020; Law no.113/2020; prospects for legislative reform; compared law;
Summary/Abstract: As the cases of insolvency increase worldwide, thus the articles provided by insolvency researchers and practitioners offer new perspectives for legislative reform. Climate changes, pollution, globalization, digitalization and massive industrialization remain in the shadows of the new challenge of humanity regarding the aggressive spread of the Sars-CoV-2 virus and which painted the picture of society in gray shades, triggering a real health, economic and social crisis. In this sense, Covid-19 becomes a nucleus for a significant reform at the level of each state. The time has come for the judicial system, especially the “key” rules in supporting the economy, such as insolvency, to be upgraded. The speed with which provisional measures were introduced and additions or exceptions to the legislation were regulated in response to the crisis generated by the pandemic, shows us that the dead end in the reform of “obsolete” laws can be overcome. We are almost talking about a “coronavirus law” which could include a series of tem- porary regulations, the legislation discovering perhaps the most diverse and complex form of creation. This pandemic context has contributed not only to the diversification of meanings and to the development of the horizon of legal knowledge, but has managed to revive traditional legal institutions, law being the indispensable vector for transposing the social and economic policies of a State. Beyond these interim measures, however, we must look at the whole, as the effects of the pandemic on certain areas such as labor law, digitalization or the State economy can be long-lasting, and for decision-makers working in the field of insolvency and debt restructuring, the crisis becomes an opportunity for a significant reform. The need for judicial reorganization of business in order to stimulate the survival of viable businesses and save jobs, as a strategy of economic recovery in the coming years, will now “reveal” more than ever the regulations that need insolvency reform and will be born in our culture acceptance of the harmonization of domestic legislation with Union and international standards on best practices in the field. For the moment, we could say that we are facing a “false comfort” of the measures extended by the temporary insolvency legislation, and a much deeper structural reform is certainly needed. Moreover, many of the support measures have expired or are due to an end, which is why a “dilution” of these temporary measures or the reactivation of expired ones could make the difference between survival and collapse, especially for small, with limited cash reserves and narrow margins.

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