Bankruptcy Law

The acts listed in Article L. 632-1, I of the Commercial Code are automatically null and void if they have taken place since the date of cessation of payments, which opens the suspect period.
This period, which cannot include the observation period of the safeguard procedure that may precede the receivership procedure , begins at the first hour of the day set by the court for the date of cessation …

Definition of the suspect period

The acts listed in Article L. 632-1, I of the Commercial Code are automatically null and void if they have taken place since the date of cessation of payments, which opens the suspect period.

This period, which cannot include the observation period of the safeguard procedure that may precede the receivership procedure , begins at the first hour of the day set by the court for the date of cessation of payments  and ends on the date of the opening judgment. Consequently, acts performed by a debtor subject to an insolvency procedure after the opening judgment , such as the conclusion of an employment contract , cannot be declared null and void.

Conversely, an amendment to an employment contract signed a few days before the debtor's cessation of payments is not null and void either, even if it proves to be unbalanced for the debtor . Similarly, a delegation of rents granted before the debtor's cessation of payments cannot be annulled simply because it was implemented after that date . On the other hand, a pledge of intangible movable property made nearly two years before the date of cessation of payments is null and void if it is registered after that date, which confers certainty .

The date of cessation of payments is set by the court in the opening judgment . It may be postponed one or more times, but may not be more than eighteen months prior to the date of the opening judgment. The opening judgment and the judgment postponing the date of cessation of payments may both be subject to opposition and third-party proceedings within ten days of their publication in the BODACC (Official Bulletin of Civil and Commercial Announcements) . However, in the absence of a third-party objection by the beneficiaries of a gift against a decision setting or postponing the date of cessation of payments, the beneficiaries can no longer contest this date in order to avoid the annulment of the deed .

Cass. com. 18 May 2016, LawLex202100001860JBJ (RJ). The solution is justified by the idea that a safeguard cannot be opened if the debtor is in a state of cessation of payments.

Cass. com. 28 September 2004, LawLex202200008334JBJ (RJ); 11 April 2012, LawLex202200008332JBJ (RJ), holding that payment by bank transfer made by the debtor in the early hours of the day fixed for the date of cessation of payments is void.

Cass. com., 19 January 1999, LawLex202200008336JBJ (RJ).

Cass. soc., 16 December 2008, LawLex202200008331JBJ (RJ).

Cass. soc., 31 May 2017, LawLex202200008333JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 4 October 2005, LawLex202100001975JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 28 January 1997, LawLex202200008335JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 22 November 2011, LawLex202200006896JBJ (LJ).

Bankruptcy Law

468. Definition of the suspect period

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468. Definition of the suspect period

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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