The habit of putting things off for tomorrow is common to many. Some justify this with their workload, others - directly explain their own laziness. However, in some situations, such a position can lead to unpredictable, and often unpleasant, consequences. It is about legal proceedings. So, many people have some important cases for the resolution of which an appeal to the judicial authorities is simply necessary. This may be the collection of old debt, and the recognition of any action of third parties invalid. In certain cases, if you miss the deadline given by the state for judicial appeal, the court decision may not be in favor of the plaintiff. The court in this case will refer to the expiration of the limitation period.
Limitation of actions. Wording
Any person has the right to go to the judiciary to protect personal rights. At the same time, the legislator, setting the time frame for filing such an application, on the one hand, protects the rights of this person, on the other hand, protects to some extent the interests of the defendant. The latter cannot be in a state of uncertainty all his life, every day waiting for a lawsuit against himself, therefore the state applies such a limitation. It also encourages the plaintiffs and applicants to timely appeal to the court for the protection of the criminal law.
The statute of limitations is different from other periods, for example, acquisitive prescription. It is due to the lack of the possibility, if there was a passage of the limitation period, to defend one’s rights through a court of law. However, the end of such a period does not deprive the applicant of the right to file a claim.
Total term
Civil Code of the Russian Federation defined such a period. It is called general legislation, that is, relating to the predominant form of appeals to the judiciary. In other words, the general term is always applied if there is no specific period. According to the specified legislative act, the total limitation period is 3 years. This period applies to legal relations arising between citizens, between organizations, as well as between citizens and legal entities. It is noteworthy that even if the parties who have concluded an agreement among themselves establish some special terms in it, such a condition of the contract will not be valid.
Special term
To determine whether the statute of limitations is common, you need to know whether the situation that has arisen is regulated, or rather, the possibility of appealing against it, by special terms. In general, such special parameters have every chance of being either longer or shorter than the generally established ones. Special terms are regulated by laws, including the Civil Code.
For example, the Civil Code the limitation period of ten years is defined for plaintiffs to the courts with claims to use the results of the invalidity of an invalid contract. However, most often in civil law there are not extended, but, on the contrary, shortened terms. So, in claims for invalidating certain types of transactions, this period may be 12 months. An identical time period is established for claims against carriers. Two years is given to submit claims to insurance companies.
How is it used
Although the total limitation period is 36 months, the judicial authorities are not entitled to invoke this without accepting a citizen’s application. The use of such a limitation by law is provided only if the defendant declares this. Skipping the statute of limitations does not in itself mean that the issue will not be resolved and must be terminated or denied. If the defendant wants the court to apply this rule, then he must state the relevant requirement to the court, albeit verbally, even in writing. If such a statement is not received, the court cannot independently apply the limitation period.
It should also be borne in mind that if several defendants are involved in a dispute, then the appeal for the pass and its application by the court must be filed by all of them. If it is filed by only one defendant, the judge will use the statute of limitations only for that defendant. There are exceptions. The court may refuse the plaintiff in the presence of such a statement from only one defendant, if the plaintiff's claims cannot be fully or partially fulfilled by others. For example, such a situation may arise when filing a claim for the recovery of a car that is jointly owned by many people.
It should be noted that the application of the limitation period is also likely according to the statement of the plaintiff, and not just the defendant. However, for obvious reasons, this is extremely rare. Basically, such a claim is stated by the counterparty of the plaintiff.
The legislation also established a time period for filing a claim for the application of the limitation period, such a claim must be filed no later than the final judicial act. That is, a claim may be made during the trial, in the debate of the parties, when studying the case file, but before the court retires to the deliberation room, where it makes its decision.
Term calculation
The legislative act in the field of civil relations precisely defines the period from which the limitation period begins. This is the number when a person inquired about non-compliance with his powers. If the plaintiff was not notified about this, but due to any objective circumstances he was obliged to know about the violation of his rights, then the term still starts to flow from this moment. An example is the agreement concluded by the parties, according to which the seller is obliged to deliver the goods to the buyer in a five-day period after receiving from the last relevant payment document. In the event that the seller has not fulfilled his obligations and the payment document has been received, the limitation period under the contract will begin to be calculated at the end of this 5-day period.
The course of the term is not affected by the fact of who applied for the protection of violated rights. That is, if the liquidation commission has filed a lawsuit against the debtors of a legal entity in the process of liquidation, then it does not have the right to justify its claims by the fact that it only recently found out about the existing debt. The limitation period for the debt in this case will begin to be calculated from the moment when the liquidated organization has learned about it.
When determining the moment when the calculation of such a term begins, one should distinguish between the date of the offense and the date when the person whose rights were violated, learned about it. It is not difficult to determine the period when the plaintiff finds out about the offense on the same day. However, he can learn about this much later. For example, a shared apartment was shared among several owners. At the same time, the consent of any owner on a business trip was not claimed, and indeed, they made a division without taking into account its share. The starting point for calculating the period for such a deprived owner will be the day when he becomes aware of the violated rights.
Sometimes there are situations when a person is obliged to know about a violation of his rights on the basis of concluded agreements with a certain moment of fulfillment of obligations. Example. The loan agreements concluded between the bank's customers and the bank itself indicate the period when the loan must be repaid. When this day comes, in the absence of payment, the deadline begins for the bank to submit claims and claims.
Can the term be suspended
Civil legislation of Russia provides for cases in which the course of the limitation period may be temporarily stopped. And although the total limitation period is thirty-six months, due to such a suspension it can actually be longer. In fact, such a suspension is caused by the fact that at certain times in certain situations the plaintiff cannot exercise his right to defense in court.
Civil Code of the Russian Federation suspends the limitation period on the following grounds.
- Force Majeure. It is clear that some natural disasters may fall under this term. However, actions of people, for example, military events or strikes, as well as other mass unrest of people, can also be attributed to force majeure circumstances. This circumstance is characterized by an extraordinary nature, which is unusual for the normal and full-fledged development of relations. However, such circumstances should be considered impossible to prevent. So, for example, if a storm, the force of which is five points, at sea will be considered force majeure for a small ship, then a similar storm of the same strength for a heavy ship will not be such. In any case, the determination of a situation that falls within the scope of force majeure and, accordingly, suspends the limitation period is the prerogative of the court. Only the court in the proceedings of a particular case can decide on the application of this ground to suspend the passage of time.
- The next reason for the suspension is the service and work of the debtor in the army. The law establishes a reservation - troops must be transferred to martial law. If martial law is not introduced, then the term will not be suspended. However, service in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation by a court can be recognized as a good reason, respectively, the term can be restored.
- Government deferment (moratorium).
- Suspension of a law that governs certain legal relations related to a violated right.
It should be understood that the suspension of the term is possible only if the above grounds appeared in the last six months, therefore, if they appeared earlier, then they can not have any influence on the course of the term.
Break
The suspension of time and its interruption should not be confused. The latter means that all the time that has elapsed before it, as it were, is reset, loses its strength. From the moment of the break, the new limitation period under the contract or other circumstance will begin to flow anew. The time that has passed before this break, of course, will not be counted in the newly established period. In other words, that time did not seem to exist.
The legislative bodies established only two grounds for interruption of the limitation period. These grounds cannot be modified or interpreted broadly. They cannot be supplemented by any conditions. These are the following reasons:
- Recognition of a debt by a person or performance by him of any actions that may testify to this.
- Handing over a lawsuit to the judiciary.
Recognition of a debt can be expressed both in direct written form by the debtor, and through the actions performed by him. For example, the defendant may write a letter in which his confession will be directly visible, or may pay part of the debt, which will confirm that he agrees with the requirements for him. In all such cases, the limitation period for the debt is interrupted and starts a new course.
For the second reason to be applicable, the plaintiff must file a lawsuit. Moreover, such a statement must meet all the requirements of the Code of Civil Procedure. If this is not so, then the period is not interrupted.
The limitation period of the statement of claim, or rather, the calculation of the limitation period, if the claim is left without consideration, is regulated by the norm of 204 Civil Code.
Is it possible to restore the term
The Civil Code determines that the expired limitation period under consideration is likely to be renewed, that is, restored. However, only individuals can take this opportunity, and then if they have any reasons that will be recognized by the judicial authorities as valid. Some of these reasons are stated explicitly by the normative act — this may be a disease, a helpless state, or other circumstances. The list of such reasons specified in the code is not exhaustive, and therefore the recognition of one reason or another as valid or not is again vested in the court. The latter, in turn, is obliged to carefully examine the evidence justifying the deadline, and then make its decision on the refusal or satisfaction of the claim. The court must state its motives in this decision.
If the obligation is performed after the deadline
It is noteworthy that if the obligated person duly fulfills his obligation to his counterparty after the statute of limitations has expired, he cannot demand that he was executed back. The expired limitation period does not affect the obligation of the debtor to fulfill his obligations. For example: if a person repaid a debt in the form of money to his creditor five years later (that is, the limitation period passed), then later, having learned about this limitation, he cannot demand that the creditor return this money.
Exceptions
As in many respects, the legislator has identified cases for which the term in question does not affect. So, according to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the limitation period does not extend:
- to claims of citizens who have invested their money in a bank, against such a bank;
- claims for the protection and restoration of non-property personal rights, other benefits that are not material;
- to claims of owners to eliminate all violations of his rights;
- to the claims of persons who have suffered damage to life or health, to compensation for such harm.
This list is not complete and final. Other laws or regulations may provide for other cases. In addition, for some reasons from the list, it is possible to set a statute of limitations by other laws, therefore, every single episode should be analyzed not only from the position of the Civil Code, but also other legislative acts. It should also be mentioned that claims of citizens for compensation for harm caused to life and health are not limited to the limitation period. Moreover, when analyzing such statements, the court determined the 3-year period preceding the filing of the claim, for which damage could be recovered. For the time that has passed more than three years ago, such a claim will not be satisfied.
Thus, although the total limitation period is three years, each specific case must be investigated separately to determine the period under which it falls.