Glossary — Judicial administrator
What is a judicial administrator?
Independent professional appointed by the commercial court in collective proceedings (safeguard, recovery, court-ordered liquidation). They represent the collective interest of creditors and take part in steering the proceedings alongside the judicial administrator and the supervising judge.
What it is
The judicial administrator is a professional listed on the national roster of judicial administrators, governed by articles L. 811-1 et seq. of the French Commercial Code. They intervene in collective proceedings opened against a company in difficulty: safeguard (preventive), judicial recovery (restoring activity), or court-ordered liquidation (cessation and realisation of assets).
Their missions vary with the nature of the proceedings. In safeguard and recovery, they assist or supervise the director. In liquidation, they become liquidator and take the director's place. In all cases, they represent the collective interest of creditors and report to the supervising judge and the court.
Why it matters
For the digital estate of a company in proceedings, the administrator is often the sole point of contact. They decide which assets to realise, which to preserve, which to assign. Their workload and the priority given to physical assets explain why digital is sometimes treated late, or even lost. Planning ahead is, here again, the only operational prudence.
How Archivum approaches it
Archivum is designed to work directly with judicial administrators and liquidators: tripartite contracts, supervised access during proceedings, full operation logs, fast archive restitution at the court's request. No emergency surcharges: the pricing grid does not change with the procedural context.
Frequently asked questions
- Are the judicial administrator and the liquidator the same person?
- Often yes: in a court-ordered liquidation, the court-appointed judicial administrator acts as liquidator. 'Judicial administrator' names the regulated profession; 'liquidator' names the role they hold within the liquidation proceedings.
- Does the administrator handle the digital estate?
- It falls to them, but intangible assets — cloud accounts, code repositories, email — often come after physical assets, for lack of time or visibility. An organised deposit upstream prevents that estate from being lost during proceedings.
- How does Archivum work with an administrator?
- Through a tripartite contract — administrator, former directors, Archivum — setting access conditions during proceedings and the fate of archives after removal. Pricing does not change with the context; no emergency surcharge applies.