Re Produst, ex parte Yugoslavia

• Jurisdiction: Republica Checa
• Date: 16 December 1955
• Court: Obsolete Court (Czechoslovakia)

Czechoslovakia, Regional Court in Prague.

In re Produst, Ex parte Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia.

Jurisdiction — Exemptions from — Foreign States — Bankruptcy Proceedings — How Far Local State Bound by Time-Limits Set in the Course of Proceedings.

The Facts.—By Order of April 6, 1955, the People's Civil Court (Court of first instance) made an order under secs. 570 ff. of the Code of Civil Procedure for the liquidation of Produst Sales Co-operative of Metalworking Factories, a registered co-operative with limited liability. At the same time the Court, acting under s. 579 of the Code of Civil Procedure, ordered that claims of the creditors be proved within thirty days, i.e., by May 5, 1955.

On June 28, 1955, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, acting on behalf of the Presidium of the Government of the People's Republic of Montenegro, a creditor of Produst, lodged proof of its debt with the said Court through the consular section of its Embassy in Prague. In the application it was stated that the delay in lodging it was due to the fact that the applicant had only on April 26, 1955, been informed of the winding-up order, through a diplomatic Note of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic, and that as all documentation was in Belgrade, the exact amount of the debt was not known to the applicant prior to the date of filing of the application.

The Court of first instance rejected the proof as having been lodged out of time. On appeal by the Presidium of the Government of the People's Republic of Montenegro,

Held: that the appeal must be allowed. The Court of first instance was in error in holding that the proof was lodged out of time, and the case must be remitted to the Court of first instance for a new trial.

The Court said: “According to the provisions of s. 611 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the jurisdiction of the Czechoslovak ordinary courts may be exercised in respect...