Bankruptcy Law

Provided that the application is admissible, the bankruptcy judge may decide to admit claims, in accordance with Article L. 624-2 of the Commercial Code, which is applicable to the receivership procedure by virtue of Article L. 631-18. While it may admit a claim that predates the opening judgment, such as repayments on loans granted to a debtor prior to the insolvency procedure , it does not have  …

Admission of the claim

Provided that the application is admissible, the bankruptcy judge may decide to admit claims, in accordance with Article L. 624-2 of the Commercial Code, which is applicable to the receivership procedure by virtue of Article L. 631-18. While it may admit a claim that predates the opening judgment, such as repayments on loans granted to a debtor prior to the insolvency procedure , it does not have jurisdiction to rule on a subsequent claim .

When ruling on a claim, the judge responsible for the verification and admission of claims is not obliged to follow the proposal of the legal representative . He may: (i) decide to admit a claim on an unsecured basis only, even if the legal representative has not, prior to the referral, raised any discussion about the privilege invoked in the statement of claim ; (ii) admit a claim whose rejection was proposed ; or (iii) reduce, when admitting the lender's claim as a liability, the penalty clause in the event of default by the borrower, if he considers it to be manifestly excessive . The bankruptcy judge, when seized of a declaration of unpaid contributions, in addition to late payment surcharges and prosecution costs, may decide to admit only the claim for contributions, since its ancillary amounts are remitted ipso jure, pursuant to Article L. 243-5(6) of the Social Security Code . It may also admit a claim for an amount different from that provisionally declared where the amending declaration was made within the time-limit set by the court, pursuant to Article L. 624-1 of the Commercial Code , for drawing up the statement of claims, for a sum less than the provisional declaration . In the absence of an enforceable title at the time of its declaration, a URSSAF claim can only be recognized provisionally for the amount declared and its definitive establishment must, on pain of foreclosure, be carried out within the time-limit . The fact that URSSAF declares its claims provisionally, even though it has already served constraints before the judgment opening the insolvency procedure, does not result in their rejection since, by assumption, they were definitively established by enforceable titles before the expiry of the time period given to the legal representative to verify the liabilities .  The failure to specify the provisional nature of the URSSAF debt declaration cannot invalidate it . Similarly, the bankruptcy judge may not limit the admission of a tax claim to the provisional amount declared without taking into account the enforceable titles notified subsequent to the opening judgment of the debtor, in order to arrive at the definitive establishment of the claim within the period set by the court . In fact, the claim declared by the Trésor Public cannot be provisionally admitted if it was the subject of an enforceable title at the time it was declared .

Since Article R. 622-23, 2° of the Commercial Code  only requires that the methods for calculating interest that has not yet accrued be indicated if the amount cannot be calculated as at the date of the declaration of the claim , the failure to indicate these methods does not prevent the admission of the claim when the declaration included the amount, already calculated, of interest due . Consequently, when admitting a claim to the debtor's liabilities, the bankruptcy judge does not have to specify the methods for calculating interest due, if they are already indicated in the claim declaration, nor to reserve the possibility of a subsequent modification of the amount of this claim due to events likely to influence the course of interest . Conversely, it may limit the admission of a claim to the principal where the methods for calculating the interest due have not been specified by the declarant . The creditor is not obliged to distinguish, in his statement of claim, the amount of interest due from the amount of capital outstanding, so that the bankruptcy judge may decide to admit the claim for interest separately and substitute for the declared amount the calculation methods resulting from a loan agreement . However, a reference to “in addition to interest” in the decision admitting a claim does not necessarily mean that the interest has been admitted, regardless of the indications in the statement of claim as to how it is calculated .

In addition, when the court of appeal postpones ruling on an admitted claim, after having invited the parties to refer the nullity of the interest calculation clause to the court having jurisdiction, but none of them refers the matter to that court within one month, the application for nullity should be considered inadmissible and the ordinance admitting the claim should be confirmed . Similarly, a debtor who does not prove that she has lodged a complaint with the tax authorities or the court having jurisdiction regarding the calculation of her tax base cannot challenge the admission of the State's claim by the court responsible for verifying claims .

The rejection of an application for discharge or reduction made by the debtor against the request of the tax authorities, which puts an end to the ongoing proceedings that she has brought, also has the effect of leading to the admission of the claim .

Lastly, a debtor who has taken part in the verification of claims without raising any objection with the legal representative does not have to be heard or called by the bankruptcy judge when he admits a claim  and may not appeal against this decision . The notification sent by the court registrar to the creditor of the filing of the statement of claims and their admission is considered authentic until the admission is recorded as false .

Cass. com., 11 May 2010, LawLex202100002420JBJ (RJ).

Cass. 2e civ., 16 September 2010, LawLex202100002473JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com. 11 December 2019, LawLex202100003147JBJ (RJ). See also. Cass. com. 13 November 2007, LawLex202100003148JBJ (RJ), holding that the URSSAF does not have to make a new definitive claim declaration to the legal representative, since it notified the receiver of the constraints served on the debtor company within the period for definitively establishing claims.

Cass. com., 12 June 2019, LawLex202100002828JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 10 March 2004, LawLex202100003146JBJ (RJ) ; 29 May 2001, LawLex202100003144JBJ (RJ).

Applicable by reference to art. R. 631-27.

Cass. com., 2 November 2016, LawLex202100002412JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 8 March 2017, LawLex202100002413JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 7 November 2018, LawLex202100002414JBJ (S) ; 13 February 2019, LawLex202100002415JBJ (S).

Cass. com., 28 February 2018, LawLex202100002417JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 8 March 1994, LawLex202100002378JBJ (RJ) ; 1 April 2003, LawLex202100002380JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 13 January 2015, LawLex202100003065JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 23 September 2014, LawLex202100002373JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 3 February 2015, LawLex202100003097JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 24 March 2015, LawLex202100003096JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 3 October 2000, LawLex202100002351JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 4 February 1992, LawLex202100002353JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 30 September 2008, LawLex202100002240JBJ (LJ).

Cass. com., 19 May 1998, LawLex202100002379JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com. 31 January 2017, LawLex202100003151JBJ (LJ), holding that the letter by which a legal representative invites a social security body to produce the enforcement order recording its claim and states that, failing this, it will propose its rejection, does not amount to a letter of contestation within the meaning of Article L. 622-27 of the Commercial Code, so that the creditor's failure to reply does not prevent the court from ruling on the admission of the claim.

Cass. com., 5 April 2016, LawLex202100002419JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 27 January 2015, LawLex202100003108JBJ (RJ).

Applicable on reference from art. L. 631-18.

Cass. com., 5 October 2010, LawLex202100003152JBJ (RJ).

Cass. com., 27 March 2007, LawLex202100003150JBJ (RJ).

Bankruptcy Law

504. Admission of the claim

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504. Admission of the claim

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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