Introduction

In 1987, the empirical findings of the foregoing studies on the sociology of debt found some theoretical support in Germany when a group of legal sociologists who applied the implementation theory of the political sciences to civil and commercial law published a number of articles on the sociology of debt collection. The enforcement of monetary claims, commonly known as ‘debt recovery’ or ‘debt collection’, is distinguished from litigation for payment of money. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the role of courts and practising lawyers and the factors impeding access to justice in the field of cross-border debt recovery. It considers judicial and extra-judicial methods of debt collection. The book deals with a report on modern developments in the field of debt recovery towards ‘routinisation’ of judicial debt recovery which, the author believes, laid the groundwork for a successful ‘privatisation’ of law enforcement in this area.