Taking on the Bailiff Monopoly in Poland
This SmartLesson is part of the “Doing Business” series where reformers present first-hand accounts and lessons learned on the reform process. Krzysztof Józefowicz, Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice in Poland between December 2005 and March 2007, talks about difficulties in breaking up the bailiff monopoly. “During that time, I and others took on the bailiffs, a powerful interest group in the Polish legal landscape. Bailiffs are enforcement officers charged with executing judgments by seizing and selling the goods of debtors who do not pay their debts on time. In Poland, the bailiffs enjoy a quasi-monopoly, because just one bailiff per enforcement precinct is allowed, prices are fixed by law, and entry into the profession is nearly impossible. Shielded from any competitive pressures, Polish bailiffs deliver poor service, and the execution of judgments in Poland is patchy at best.”
Download full paper (PDF, 174KB)