Debt collection in Burundi

The debt collection in Burundi process begins with a legal, financial and evidentiary review of the case. The creditor should identify the debtor’s legal form, registered address or actual place of business, the origin of the debt, contracts, invoices, purchase orders, delivery documents, service acceptance records, correspondence, guarantees, debt acknowledgements and any other documents proving the amount due.

This review should also cover the debtor’s real ability to pay. It is important to check whether the debtor continues commercial activity in Burundi, owns movable or immovable assets, holds bank accounts, has receivables from third parties, is involved in pending court cases, is already subject to enforcement measures or shows signs of insolvency. For a foreign creditor, a valid address for notification and the existence of reachable assets in Burundi are especially important.

The result of this assessment helps determine the appropriate route: amicable negotiations, a written payment demand, court proceedings, enforcement of an existing title, recognition and enforcement of a foreign court decision, compulsory enforcement measures or actions connected with the insolvency of a merchant debtor.

The amicable stage is based on documented negotiations with the debtor and is aimed at obtaining voluntary payment or another acceptable settlement. At this stage, the parties may consider the return of goods, transfer of the debt to a third party, exchange of goods or services, partial payment, instalment payment, security for payment or a written acknowledgement of the debt.

Communication with the debtor usually begins with a clear and verifiable written payment demand. The demand should state the basis of the debt, the amount claimed, the expected payment and the main documents supporting the creditor’s claim. Correspondence by post, email, phone or professional communication channels should help record the debtor’s position, reach decision makers, preserve evidence of negotiations and prepare the file for possible court proceedings.

If the debtor refuses to pay, avoids contact, disputes the debt without serious grounds, transfers assets or shows signs of insolvency, the creditor may proceed to judicial debt collection or another legal route suitable for the debtor’s situation.

Before starting court proceedings, the creditor should assess the applicable limitation period. Under Burundi civil law, real and personal claims are generally time-barred after thirty years unless a shorter special period applies.

Some types of claims are subject to shorter periods. Claims for house rent, rural property rent, interest on borrowed sums and, in general, payments due annually or at shorter recurring intervals are time-barred after five years. Certain professional service, commercial supply, accommodation, food, daily work, supply and wage claims may be subject to six-month or one-year periods, depending on the nature of the claim.

The limitation period may be interrupted by filing a claim, by a formal payment order, by a seizure notified to the debtor or by the debtor’s acknowledgement of the creditor’s right. After a valid interruption, a new period begins to run.

Judicial debt collection in Burundi is used when the amicable stage does not result in payment or when the debtor’s conduct requires formal action before the competent court.

Court proceedings may be started by a claim, a joint statement filed with the court registry, an application or a declaration submitted to the court registry. If the proceedings are started by a summons, the document must state the creditor’s claims, the documents on which the claim is based and the list of evidence submitted. Except in urgent cases or special matters, it should also describe the steps taken to seek an amicable settlement before going to court.

The summons is served on the defendant. For a defendant located in Burundi, the ordinary appearance period is eight full days. For a defendant located outside Burundi, the summons period is sixty days. The general appearance rules also provide distance-based extensions: one additional day for every thirty kilometres beyond the first twenty kilometres from the seat of the court, one month for persons outside Burundi in a country with a regular air connection through Bujumbura, and two months for persons in a country without such a connection.

After the court has been properly seized of the case, the president of the court or of the relevant chamber appoints a judge responsible for preparing the case file. This judge ensures the orderly progress of the proceedings, the exchange of written submissions, the communication of documents, compliance with deadlines and completion of the necessary procedural steps. The judge may hear the parties or their lawyers, send useful communications, set time limits and organise the procedural timetable.

The judge responsible for preparing the case file may record a full or partial settlement, propose judicial approval of an agreement submitted by the parties, require the participation of persons whose presence is necessary, examine procedural objections and close the preparatory stage if a party fails to perform the required acts within the fixed time limits. At the end of this stage, the judge prepares a short report without giving an opinion on the merits of the dispute and sends the case for hearing.

The parties must appear on the fixed date in person or through their representatives. If the defendant does not appear, the court may decide on the basis of the materials submitted by the creditor or order a new summons when necessary. When the parties appear, the judge hears their arguments, examines the documents submitted and assesses whether the case is ready for judgment.

If further steps are required, the court may hear witnesses, appoint experts, inspect property, verify the authenticity of documents, order the personal appearance of the parties and take other procedural measures necessary to resolve the dispute. After the debates are closed, the decision must be delivered within thirty days on a date previously communicated to the parties.

The decision of the court of first instance may be subject to appeal within thirty full days, unless a special rule provides otherwise. For adversarial judgments, this period begins on the day after notification of the judgment. For default judgments, the period begins when opposition to the judgment is no longer admissible.

A decision rendered on appeal may be challenged before the Supreme Court of Burundi through an appeal on points of law. In civil, commercial, social and administrative matters, the period for filing such an application is sixty days from notification of the challenged decision. This period is calculated in full days. If the decision was rendered in the absence of a party, the application becomes available to that party only when opposition is no longer admissible.

An appeal on points of law is aimed at reviewing the correct application of the law and is not a new full examination of the facts. The filing period and the application itself do not, as a general rule, suspend enforcement of the challenged decision. Suspension may be granted in cases provided by law, especially in matters concerning immovable property or where enforcement could create an irreversible situation. The decision of the Supreme Court ends the dispute within the scope of that review.

If the creditor already has a decision issued by a foreign court in a civil, commercial, social or administrative matter, the creditor must seek recognition and enforcement of a foreign court decision in Burundi before taking measures against the debtor’s local assets. This stage allows the foreign decision to produce legal effect in Burundi and serve as the basis for local enforcement.

The foreign decision must not be contrary to Burundi public order, must be final under the law of the country of origin, must have the necessary guarantees of authenticity and must have been issued with respect for the parties’ rights of defence. The application is filed with the court of first instance in the place where enforcement is to be carried out.

The creditor must submit a proper copy of the decision, proof of its notification or an equivalent document, and a certificate from the registry of the foreign court confirming that the decision is not subject to opposition or appeal. If the documents are not drafted in an official language used in Burundi, a translation must be submitted.

After the court decision becomes enforceable or after the creditor obtains an enforcement title that can be used in Burundi, the creditor may initiate compulsory enforcement. Enforcement acts, including a formal payment order or a seizure notified to the debtor, are also important for protecting the creditor’s rights because they may interrupt the limitation period.

As part of the enforcement of a court decision, the creditor’s claims may be satisfied by seizing funds in bank accounts, seizing and selling movable property, seizing immovable property, seizing standing crops and seizing the debtor’s property held by third parties. When enforcement targets immovable property, rent and other income from that property may be frozen from the moment of notification to the authority responsible for land registration and distributed together with the price of the property.

Enforcement against immovable property may lead to a voluntary sale by the debtor or to a public sale with the involvement of the authority responsible for land registration. For the creditor, it is therefore important to identify in advance the debtor’s immovable property, rental income, bank accounts, commercial receivables and property held by third parties.

Another route for debt recovery is the bankruptcy procedure of a merchant debtor. Under Burundi law on commercial insolvency, a merchant who has stopped making payments and whose credit has been shaken may be declared bankrupt. Bankruptcy may be opened by a court decision based on the debtor’s own statement, an application by one or more creditors, an application by the public prosecutor or an application by a provisional administrator.

From the judgment declaring bankruptcy, the debtor automatically loses the power to administer their property. Payments, transactions and acts carried out by the debtor after that judgment, as well as payments made to the debtor, cannot generally be relied upon against the body of creditors, except for property and amounts that the law excludes from the bankruptcy estate.

The law also allows certain acts carried out from the date fixed by the court as the start of cessation of payments to be treated as ineffective against the body of creditors. These include gratuitous acts, paid transactions in which the obligations assumed by the debtor significantly exceed the obligations assumed towards the debtor, payments of debts that were not yet due, payments of overdue debts made by means other than money or trade bills, and security created over the debtor’s property for debts that arose earlier.

Other payments of overdue debts and other paid transactions carried out after cessation of payments and before the bankruptcy judgment may also be ineffective against creditors if the person dealing with the debtor knew of that cessation of payments. Mortgages created after cessation of payments for earlier debts or to secure a third party’s debts are exposed to the same consequence. Any act or payment made in fraud of creditors may be ineffective against them regardless of its date.

The practical effect of these rules is to bring back into the procedure property, value or security that left the debtor’s estate to the detriment of creditors. This route is especially important where the debtor transferred assets, preferred certain creditors, created late security or prepared insolvency before the opening of the procedure.

In cross-border cases, Burundi law also provides rules on international insolvency. After recognition of a main foreign proceeding, a concurrent proceeding in Burundi may be opened only if the debtor has assets in Burundi. Its effects are generally limited to assets located in Burundi and to assets that must be administered in that proceeding under Burundi law.

Grandliga assists creditors in debt collection in Burundi cases at all key stages: debtor and evidence review, preparation of a written payment demand, negotiations, selection of the court route, recognition and enforcement of foreign decisions, compulsory enforcement against identifiable assets and actions connected with the insolvency of a merchant debtor. This approach helps shape a strategy based on the nature of the debt, the debtor’s conduct and the assets that can realistically be reached in Burundi.

# DEBT COLLECTION AGENCY BURUNDI

30.12.2024

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