Enforcement proceedings are basically concerned with the enforcement of an existing claim that has been established in the proceedings. The performance owed on the basis of an execution title is enforced with the help of state coercive means. However, enforcement proceedings only apply to cases in which the debtor does not voluntarily provide the service owed—enforcement must then take place with the help of the court, since self-help is of course not permitted.
The proceedings themselves have some special features compared to the insolvency proceedings and deviate in essential principles. In particular, the principle of special execution and the principle of priority should be mentioned. Thus, in the enforcement proceedings, each creditor independently pursues enforcement against individual assets of the debtor—unlike in the insolvency proceedings, where the principle of universal execution applies (see above). According to the priority principle, creditors are satisfied according to their rank—i.e. according to the time of the establishment of their claim—and not on a pro rata basis.
