A party replacement in enforcement proceedings: theoretical aspects and judicial practice

This article is devoted to the study of the institute of a party replacement in enforcement proceedings as a type of procedural legal succession, which has the following features: subjects list; grounds for legal succession and evidentiary documents confirming their existence; and the procedure for exercising legal succession. The correlation between the concepts of material legal succession, procedural legal succession, and a party replacement in enforcement proceedings is defined. It is concluded that a party replacement in enforcement proceedings is a type of procedural legal succession that occurs when a party of enforcement proceedings withdraws due to the death of an individual, the termination of a legal entity, or the transfer of certain civil rights and obligations from one individual or legal entity to another, provided that the fulfillment of the duties or demands of such a person as a party of the enforcement proceedings provides legal succession. The specific subjects list of legal succession at the stage of enforcement proceedings is outlined. The assertion that a party replacement of enforcement proceedings also means a party replacement of a case is refuted. The inexpediency of transferring the resolution of the issue of a party replacement in enforcement proceedings from the court jurisdiction to the competence of a state or private enforcement officer is justified. The article states that a feature of the grounds for legal succession in enforcement proceedings is legal succession in material legal relations that have already been established by a court decision or a decision of another jurisdictional body. It is emphasized that the procedural order for exercising legal succession in enforcement proceedings is conditioned by the possibility of its arising grounds. The procedural features of the legal succession emergence are determined within open enforcement proceedings, before the opening of enforcement proceedings in the form of replacing the claimant or debtor in the writ of execution, as well as in cases where the enforcement proceedings have been completed but there is a possibility of their resumption. Proposals for amending the legislation regulating the procedure for replacing a party in enforcement proceedings have been formulated.