The present Motion presented by Mr. Caine on behalf of Mr. Lindroos, asks this Court to determine, as a preliminary legal point, whether Mr. Holmaranta has locus standi to appear in this Court at any further hearing of the Petition. The Motion is opposed by Mr. Conti who appears for Mr. Holmaranta. Mr. Caine has supplied the Court with the legal Opinion of Professor Vesa Majamaa of the Department of Law at Helsinki University and this is dated the 20th of March 1998 and has been translated by an official translator. I read from the opinion the first page -

"When a person or a company is declared bankrupt, the debtor loses his capacity to dispose of his property and the bankrupt's estate takes over the capacity formerly held by the debtor. This transfer of legitimacy as the proper party from the debtor to the bankrupt's estate is the major and most significant procedural and legal impact of the bankruptcy.

When the debtor loses his legitimacy as the proper party to the bankrupt's estate, the respective property is understood in the widest possible sense. The property comprises all distrainable, asset-related rights that have belonged to the debtor. In addition to the objects and rights held by the debtor and belonging to the debtor at the moment of the bankruptcy, the bankrupt's estate substitutes the debtor in all contracts made by the debtor in which the mutual performance liabilities mature after the declaration of the bankruptcy.

The bankrupt's estate also substitutes the debtor in legal proceedings pending at the moment of the bankruptcy and initiated by the debtor in all cases where the disputed property item or right is regarded as being property belonging to the bankrupt's estate. Thus the debtor loses his capacity to conduct a civil case initiated by him.

In spite of the bankruptcy, the property belonging to the bankrupt's estate remains in the debtor's name; however, since the debtor has lost all his capacity to dispose of it, the trustees dispose of it on behalf of the debtor, either alone or with the consent of the other creditors (majority of creditors) in the bankruptcy. Moreover, the bankrupt's estate may also settle a disputed case and terminate legal proceedings that have been initiated by the debtor prior to the bankruptcy. This decision can be made by the majority of the creditors.