European/UK credit law question

[michaelud]

What is the law on pursuit of former residents in EU countries for debts when that person now lives in the UK?

One would assume that any action could only be civil, as the European convention on Human Rights ensures that one may not be jailed for failure to comply with the terms of a contract.

Also, would any UK bank be permitted to pass on such information as address etc under the data protection act?

 

[NYClex]

It really depends on the circumstances of the case. It depends on where this happened. It is right that the EU human rights conventions says this, but that does not mean that the action might not be considered to be a criminal offense in one of the EU countries, too, for example fraud.

If for example it would be considered fraud in France or Germany and you go to the UK they can pursue extradition proceedings and put you on trial in the original country. And then of course you would also be under jurisdiction of the civil courts there, too.

I am not familiar with British law about this so I cannot give you any answers on that, but I could well imagine that there are regulations that allow the banks to give out information about you to your creditors if they pursue legal action against you in Europe. Britain is part of the EU and those things more and more are handled as domestic affairs in Europe rather than international.