Introduction: The Legal Essence of Sealing and Sequestration
The sealing and sequestration of a debtor's property (transferring it to a third party for management and preservation) represents an extreme and highly effective measure in the forced enforcement process for maintaining the physical integrity of the property and protecting it from tampering. Merely placing an attachment on the property is often not enough to ensure its safety. Unscrupulous debtors might damage, hide, or destroy attached property, thereby destroying the creditor's chance to recover the debt. In such cases, sealing is used, which means physically locking the property (e.g., a warehouse, office, machinery) and securing it with an official enforcement seal. Sequestration goes even further—it implies revoking the debtor's right to manage and store the property (usually an operating business, income-generating real estate, or disputed item) and transferring it to a specially appointed impartial person (a sequestrator). The sequestrator's goal is to maintain the property's value and manage it to protect the creditor's interests during the dispute period.