Bankruptcy reform faces bankruptcy

Ex-Justice Minister Pavel Rychetský told MF Dnes that he's flattered by the image in the media that he's responsible for post-1989 legislation but that it's a myth. In terms of recent bankruptcy reform, a myth it isn't. He was the driving force behind the reform, and his exit poses a serious threat to the process. The main problem is that judges - one of the last strongholds of old-style Communism - are trying to take control of the drafting process. The judges on the law's drafting committee are fighting to keep their right to appoint bankruptcy receivers. They have a cozy relationship with the receivers, and it's no surprise that the same judges appoint the same receivers time after time, with no one to police the process. The solution is to separate judges from the drafting process and to maintain a division of the judicial and legislative branches of government.