“Judicial management as a business rescue scheme” A critique of the effectiveness of judicial management as a rescue scheme

Abstract

The main thrust of the study was to ascertain the effectiveness of judicial management procedure as a corporate rescue scheme. Thus the research unraveled the shortcomings of the laws of insolvency in light of the objectives of insolvency laws in particular the need to protect the interests of not only the creditors and shareholders, but the society at large. The study was carried out in Harare targeting insolvency practitioners as well as the use of secondary data. The qualitative research methodology was employed because of its ability to explore and describe the effectiveness of judicial management as a corporate rescue scheme capturing the experiences and opinions of experts directly involved in judicial management. Thus indepth interviews and secondary data analysis research techniques were utilized. The overall findings confirmed that indeed judicial management procedure is flawed. It was established that the procedure is restricted to companies only at the exclusion of any other form of business entity. Further, those who are eligible for appointment as judicial managers do not need to have a business management qualification which appear to be necessary for the revival of financially distressed companies. In light of these findings several recommendations were made chief among them the need for law reform to enhance the effectiveness of corporate rescue procedures.