Civil Enforcement in a Comparative Perspective

"Civil enforcement agents (bailiffs) are part of the machinery of justice and exercise state authority, yet their role and regulation have been subjected to little academic scrutiny. This is all the more astonishing given that they exercise state authority and, in most jurisdictions, have extensive access to information about debtors, as well as significant coercive powers ... This book seeks to expose to view this fertile research territory. In doing so, it sets out two objectives. First, to highlight and explain the diversity of bailiff organisations in Europe. Second, to ask how far governments are taking responsibility for the public management of enforcement activities in the light of their impact on citizens and the increased significance attributed to personal autonomy and financial capability in the 'neoliberal' era."--Back cover.