Page - 189 - in Austrian Law Journal, Volume 2/2021

ALJ 2021 From debt to discharge 189 occupation ("angemessene Erwerbstätigkeit") (§ 210 [1] IO);58 he is not allowed to refuse any reasonable employment ("zumutbare Beschäftigung") in this context.59 The debt discharge is only to be denied by the court if the proceedings are either prematurely discontinued or the debtor violates his obligations.60 The creditors, however, do not have to agree to a debt discharge within the proceedings for income levy.61 The residual debt discharge may be revoked if the debtor has intentionally impaired the satisfaction of the creditors significantly as a result of a breach of an obligation; in the case of the repayment plan, this also applies if the debtor has been convicted of certain criminal offences (see § 216 [1] IO).62 In practice, however, such a revocation hardly ever occurs. C. Competent court to apply for consumer insolvency proceedings Whereas according to §§ 63, 64 IO, the regional court ("Landesgericht" or in Vienna "Handelsgericht Wien") is responsible for “ordinary“ insolvency proceedings in Austria,63 consumer debt settlement proceedings take place before the district court ("Bezirksgericht") (§ 182 IO).64 Therefore, the jurisdiction of the insolvency court depends on the debtor operating a business or not,65 which is always a case-by-case assessment. It must be carefully examined whether the operation of a business can (still) be assumed.66 The sole fact that the debtor's liabilities originate from a previous entrepreneurial activity does not establish entrepreneurial status.67 The district court in whose district the debtor has his habitual residence has local jurisdiction for the debt settlement proceedings (§ 182 in connection with § 63 [1] IO). If the habitual residence cannot be determined, according to § 63 (2) IO, the place of business or, in the absence of a place of business, the location of the debtor's property is relevant.68 Functionally, according to § 17a (1) Austrian Law on Legal Officers69 ("Rechtspflegergesetz", hereinafter RpflG), the legal officer ("Rechtspfleger"), a specially trained federal civil servant, is 58 Rechberger/Seeber/Thurner, Insolvenzrecht3 Rz 475. 59 ErläutRV 950 BlgNR 27. GP 31. 60 Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 Rz 488. 61 Rechberger/Seeber/Thurner, Insolvenzrecht3 Rz 425; Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 Rz 480. 62 Cf. Mohr, VbR 2021, 120 (121). 63 Rechberger/Seeber/Thurner, Insolvenzrecht3 Rz 33; Kodek, Insolvenzrecht2 Rz 47; Mohr, Privatinsolvenz3 Rz 26. 64 Kodek, Insolvenzrecht2 Rz 555; Mohr, Privatinsolvenz3 Rz 26; Rechberger/Seeber/Thurner, Insolvenzrecht3 Rz 30; Schneider, Privatinsolvenz3 4; Feuchtinger/Lesigang, Insolvenzrecht4 121; Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 Rz 497; Konecny, ecolex 2017, 1160 (1161). 65 Mohr, ZIK 2017, 97 (97); Pfandl/Schmid, Insolvenzrecht (2020) 23; Rechberger/Seeber/Thurner, Insolvenzrecht3 Rz 33; Schneider, Privatinsolvenz3 4; Kodek, Handbuch Privatkonkurs2 (2015) Rz 31; Feuchtinger/Lesigang, Insolvenzrecht4 121. 66 Schneider, Privatinsolvenz3 6; Mohr, Privatinsolvenz3 Rz 27; cf. Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 Rz 495 et seq. 67 Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 Rz 483; Kodek, Privatkonkurs2 Rz 31; Schneider, Privatinsolvenz3 5; Mohr, Privatinsolvenz3 Rz 27. 68 Schneider, Privatinsolvenz3 6; Rechberger/Seeber/Thurner, Insolvenzrecht3 Rz 34; Kodek, Insolvenzrecht2 Rz 47; Mohr, Privatinsolvenz3 Rz 30. 69 Rechtspflegergesetz BGBl 1985/560.