ANALYSIS OF LEGAL STATUS OF A CREDITOR IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EXTERNAL CONTROL OF LEGAL PROTECTION PROCESS

Abstract

Since enactment of the new Insolvency Law on 1 January 2008 offering a new legal solution – legal protection of a debtor, until present, when the second Insolvency Law was enacted, legal protection proceedings have been initiated in 505 cases, including 149 cases when legal protection proceedings were instituted and 389 cases when legal protection proceedings were terminated. The increasing number of legal protection cases has also increased the issues related to such legal solutions. Recent discussions have focused on shortcomings of the Insolvency Law that can be easily used for dishonest purposes circumventing the interests of creditors. Conceptual shortcomings of the Insolvency Law in the norms regulating legal protection are obvious. The limited rights of creditors in legal proceedings along with the vast powers of administrators constitute a topical issue of legal protection. The law-related literature in Latvia lacks special studies of the legal protection proceedings, internal as well as external control over it and the issues inherent in the handling of cases. Legal protection is discussed rather superficially in the works of law specialists of Latvia, yet certain developments have methodological importance in understanding of the underlying issues. The purpose of this article is to define the concept of a creditor and their role in legal protection proceedings, as well as groups of creditors, issues related to external control; to discuss and determine the legal status of a creditor in legal protection proceedings.