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CRIMINAL CONTEMPT IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS ——o— TIBOR TAJTI* “While it is true that the contempt power might become a vehicle for the imposition of judicial tyranny if used improperly, statutes and judicial self-restraint have tempered its exercise. It is a useful and important remedy, the abrogation of which would seriously handicap the judicial system. [...]. It is the sole means available to the courts by which they may see that their decrees are carried out and without this power the remedy of injunction would be illusory.” WHY FOCUS ON THIS QUESTION? Academic and practical reasons justify focus on the role criminal contempt plays in bankruptcy. If there is a dearth of comparative scholarship generally juxtaposing the distinctively Anglo-Saxon concept of contempt of court with what civilian systems offer instead, then this applies a fortiori if the perusal of criminal contempt is observed in the context of bankruptcy proceedings.* The notable exception being the United States (US), with its unparalleled deference attributed to bankruptcy law as a socio-legal phenomenon, expressed and illustrated by the incomparably rich and diverse case-load. These, and the voluminous literature highly critical of the US contempt laws,* make the US the most suitable benchmark no comparative work could bypass. The neglect might though be due also to misconceptions, like believing that the Anglo-Saxon contempt is limited to offenses committed against government officials." This is obviously mistaken. Even the few bankruptcy cases herein, each illustrating a particular instance of contemptuous behavior of creditors, officers Professor of law, Central European University — PU, Vienna (Austria). Criminal Contempt: Violations of Injunctions in the Federal Courts, Indiana Law Journal 32 (1957), 514-527, 515. Herein, US nomenclature is used. Hence, the term ‘bankruptcy’ covers both company reorganizations and liquidations, as well as proceedings opened against individuals and other entities. 4 See, e.g., John A. E. Pottow — Jason S. Levin, Rethinking Criminal Contempt in the Bankruptcy Courts, The American Banktrupcy Law Journal 91 (2017). Based on exchanges with Prof. Karoly Bard. * 169 «
