Navigation: Home Quality Circle Welcome Page
2008 In 2008, four meetings were held in Heidelberg. The Quality Circle introduced itself to all insolvency courts of Baden-Württemberg during its first annual conference on November 24, 2008. The speakers explained the case law requirements concerning the preselection of insolvency representatives and presented the draft of the Heidelber Model Questionnaire. 2009 As of 2009, the meetings of the Quality Circle were relocated to Heilbronn. There were four meetings. These meetings mainly served the purpose of developing the Heidelberg Guidelines. In the morning of the annual conference on July 1, 2009, the courts organized under the Quality Circle explained their methods of procedure for the preselection of the insolvency representatives. The afternoon of that day was reserved for the presentation of the Heidelberg Guidelines. During the presentation it was made clear that these guidelines are only a suggestion for directive standards. Each insolvency court remains free to decide independently whether it will use the Heidelberg Guidelines as a basis for its work with the insolvency representatives. 2010 A major issue of discussion during the four meetings in this year was the concentration of the insolvency courts by reducing their number. The reason for this discussion were concerns about the quality of the work of the insolvency judges. In the Quality Circle's opinion an insolvency judge cannot gain enough experience with insolvency work if his/her insolvency caseload is only very small. Furthermore, a model form for voluntary petitions by self-employed individuals was developed during those meetings. During the annual conference on September 29, 2010, the attendees discussed several issues which are relevant for the practical everyday work of insolvency judges, such as the remuneration of interim insolvency representatives, denial of discharge,and preservation measures.
2011 In 2011, the members of the Quality Circle convened three times at in Heilbronn. They discussed new problems regarding the preselection and selection of insolvency representatives and other issues. The focus of the discussions was on the effects of the changes of the Insolvency Code becoming effective on March 1, 2012 (Reorganization of Business Enterprises Facilitation Act). The subject of the annual conference on November 29, 2011, in Stuttgart was "The Reorganization of Business Enterprises Facilitation Act ESUG - What does it bring to us and how do we deal with it?" Prof. Dr. Heinz Vallender was the keynote speaker. This annual conference was the first joint conference of the insolvency judges and insolvency commissioners after the insolvency commissioners had established their own quality circle in Heilbronn on December 2, 2009. Three judges and one lady commissioner from the two quality circles and three insolvency judges from Rhineland-Palatia were speakers at an introductory seminar held from May 4 to 6, 2011, at Dannenfels for insolvency judges with little or no insolvency law experience. Brochures of the programs mentioned above (in German) can be found in the left column of this page.
2012 The same speakers who made presentations at the seminar at Dannenfels in 2011 taught a seminar titled "Introduction into the Work of an Insolvency Judge" together with two insolvency professionals at the German Richterakademie (Judicial College) in Trier from April 29 to May 5, 2012. This seminar will be repeated in May, 2013. On July 20, 2012, six judges from the quality circle and the lady Rechtspfleger spoke at a seminar on important changes in German insolvency law in effect since March 1, 2012. The seminar programs (in German only) can be downloaded by clicking the links in the left section of this page.
Two meetings were held in 2012 on February 6, 2012, and May 14, 2012. The focus of the discussion was on issues resulting from the changes of the Insolvency Code effective as of March 1, 2012.
The annual conference which had been prepared in the two meetings was held on July 20, 2012. The German version of the program can be downloaded from the left column of this page. The speakers explained some important changes of the Insolvency Code having become effective on March 1, 2012. The high number of attendees in the audience showed that the new law has had its effects on the work of all insolvency courts. Due to the absence of case law by the German Federal Court of Justice, the highest German court in civil and criminal matters, the exchange of information between the insolvency courts is in high demand. With regard to the qualification requirements for insolvency judges and insolvency Rechtspflegers becoming effective on January 1, 2013, the quality circle has been included in the preparation of training programs for insolvency judges and insolvency Rechtspflegers to guarantee that the judges and Rechtspflegers will be sufficiently qualified. These programs were the subject of discussion during the annual conference. The statute laying down the qualification requirements for the insolvency judges is shown in the left section of this page.
The program started with a seminar on insolvency plans on November 8, 2012, to prepare the judges for their new responsibility of handling plans. Before January 1, 2013, the insolvency Rechtspflegers were responsible for handling plans. This was changed due to constitutional concerns. These constitutional concerns were raised by the newly implemented alternative of including a debt-to-equity swap in a plan. The legislator held that only a judge can approve of such an agreement on a change of ownership in a business. A seminar on tax law and accounting and on business associations law, labor law, and social security law was held from November 19 through 21, 2012.
2013 In 2013, the members of the Quality Circle convened in Heilbronn three times. The members hosting the seminars on insolvency plans and on tax law and accounting reported on the feedback from the audience. The feedback was positive but adjustments of individual segments were requested. Another point of discussion were issues concering the binding effect of unanimous proposals by temporary creditor committees on the judge's selection of the insolvency representative. Until February 28, 2012, the judge had unlimited discretion to decide whom he appointed insolvency representative (administrator) in a particular case. Since March 1, 2012, this discretion is limited in some business insolvency cases and the judge may have to appoint an insolvency representative the temporary creditors' committee have unanimously voted for.
The seminar on business association law, labor law, and social welfare law from February 20 to 22, 2013, concluded the cycle of seminars organized to make the judges fit for the new qualification requirements.
The seminar "Introduction into the Work of an Insolvency Judge" at the National Judicial College in Trier was repated from May 5 to 13, 2013. The program was adjusted to meet the changes in the judges' daily work under the new law.
On October 22, 2013, the Quality Circle invited all insolvency courts in Baden-Württemberg to a one-day seminar in Stuttgart it had prepared with the help of the Ministry of Justice of Baden-Württemberg.