On the limitation of monetary claims in practice
As an attorney, I have encountered several times an example of a certain kind of "ignorance" of some of our clients regarding the basic legal institute of statute of limitations.
The statute of limitations is regulated in our legal system by the provisions of Section 609 et seq. of the Civil Code.
It is good to remember these three simple rules.
- If the right has not been exercised within the limitation period, it is time-barred and the debtor is not obliged to perform.
- The court shall take into account the limitation period only if the debtor argues that the right is time-barred.
- The general limitation period is 3 years.
The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court has also recently commented on the issue of limitation in its decision of 31 May 2023, Case No. 31 Cdo 3125/2022.In its decision, the Supreme Court stated that the limitation period for contractual claims whose maturity is dependent on the creditor's will begins to run from the date on which the creditor became aware (or should have become aware and could have become aware) that the right to determine the time of performance of the debt (the right to demand payment of the debt "immediately") had arisen.
The Supreme Court further emphasized that the due date of the invoice issued by the creditor does not affect the start of the limitation period.
In the case where the determination of the time of performance of the debt is left to the creditor's will, the subjective limitation period begins to run from the date on which the creditor became aware (or should have become aware and could have become aware) that the right to demand payment of the debt immediately had arisen and thus to determine the time of performance of the debt. This period lasts for three years and after its expiry the debtor is no longer obliged to perform as his claims are time-barred.
Please note that the start of the limitation period does not generally start from the due date of the invoice issued by the creditor, but generally starts from the moment of the provision of services or delivery of goods by the creditor.
Therefore, creditors should monitor the due date of their monetary claims with due diligence and start pursuing their claims in court before they become time-barred.
Therefore, do not leave it until five minutes before twelve o'clock to assert your outstanding monetary claims, lest you discover that it is five minutes after twelve o'clock...
#statuteoflimitations #invoiceduedate #legalservices #attorneyatlaw #sikosy #debtrecovery
