Cap. 13 Art. 523Proposed terms shall be confirmed by court.

(1) The court shall, when it is satisfied that the proposed terms have been approved in accordance with article 521(3), by order, confirm that the proposed terms have been lawfully approved by the creditors, and such confirmation shall be sufficient to make such terms binding.

(2) If the proposed terms are not deemed to have been approved in accordance with article 521(3), their confirmation by the court, once it is satisfied that the conditions referred to in article 521(4) subsist, shall be sufficient to make such terms binding:

Provided that it shall be assumed by the court that the requirements of article 521(4)(a) are satisfied, without any further inquiry by the court, unless any dissenting creditor has, by application, requested the court to assess whether the said requirements do, in fact, subsist.

(3) The confirmation or refusal of the proposed terms by the court, and any decision of the court within the context of the proceedings for the proposal and confirmation of the proposed terms of a debt agreement, shall be subject to appeal, by application to the Court of Appeal within twenty (20) days from the day of the decision of the court to confirm or refuse the proposed terms.

(4) The Court of Appeal may, notwithstanding that it has accepted an appeal made in terms of sub-article (3), uphold the decision of the court to confirm the proposed terms at first instance, and provide such remedy as necessary to ensure that the appellant is protected from the effects of the proposed terms, or duly compensated, such that the appellant:

(a) shall be entitled to receive an amount at least equivalent to that which the appellant would have been entitled to if the normal ranking of priorities were applied, or in the event of the next-best-alternative scenario, if the proposed terms had not been confirmed; or

(b) shall be treated at least as favourably as any other creditor within any class of creditors whose debts would, if the normal ranking of priorities were to be applied, rank pari with the debts pertaining to the appellant, and more passu favourably than any other creditor within any class of creditors whose debts would, if the normal ranking of priorities were to be applied, rank below the debts pertaining to the appellant.

(5) An appeal made in terms of sub-article (3) shall have no suspensive effects on the execution of that decision, or on the execution of any proposed terms approved within the procedure in which that decision was made.