Hof van Cassatie van België / Cour de Cassation de Belgique, 14-5-1999: When Does a Freezing Order Become Effective Against the Debtor of the Receivables? Introduction from Belgium - European Review of Private Law View Hof van Cassatie van België / Cour de Cassation de Belgique, 14-5-1999: When Does a Freezing Order Become Effective Against the Debtor of the Receivables? Introduction from Belgium by - European Review of Private Law Hof van Cassatie van België / Cour de Cassation de Belgique, 14-5-1999: When Does a Freezing Order Become Effective Against the Debtor of the Receivables? Introduction from Belgium 10 1

When a debtor is notified by a bailiff that his creditors' claim is seized, Belgian law imposes several obligations on that debtor. From the time at which the act of seizure was received, the debtor of the seized claim cannot deliver or pay any longer or can be declared debtor of the seizing party himself (art. 1451 Belgian Judiciary Code). Further, he is obliged to make, within 15 days, a declaration specifying the seized sums or goods (art. 1452 Belgian Judiciary Code). These different effects do not necessarily come into force at the same moment. Although the period of 15 days for the obligation to make a declaration runs from the moment the seizure was notified, the debtor cannot be declared debtor himself because he paid or delivered despite the seizure, unless at the time he did so he knew or should have known the act of seizure.

This decision gives us the occasion to comment on the rules on the effects of notice in general, especially under Belgian, Greek, Dutch and English law.

European Review of Private Law