Abstract

The articles discusses intertemporal issues associated with the amendment of the regulations on interest in force since 1 January 2016. Art. 55 and art. 56 of the Act of 9 October 2015 amending the Act on terms of payment in commercial transactions, the Civil Code, and certain other Acts provide for two different temporary solutions concerning commercial transactions and changes of interest provided for in the Civil Code, respectively.

As regards interest provided for in the CC, under art. 56 of the Amending Act of 9 October 2015 the former regulations shall apply to interest due for the period ending before 1 January 2016. The intertemporal problem refers primarily to interest for delay, when interest falls due for periods both before and after the effective date of the amendment. In light of Art. 56 of the 2015 Act amending the Civil Code new regulations apply solely to interest which has been accrued as of 1 January 2016. One should also bear in mind a terminological issue – until the end of 2015 the Civil Code used a single construction of “statutory interest”. The amendment introduced a new concept of “statutory interest for delay”, which is always 2 pp higher than statutory interest. Therefore, the current CC terminology should be used in contracts and pleadings.

A serious practical problem appears when the court adjudicated interest defined as “statutory” before 1 January 2016 and the order is enforced after the regulations have been amended. The authors tend to accept a view that in this case the interpretation of the order may be requested under Art. 352 of the Code of Civil Procedure to clarify that the creditor is entitled to receive “statutory interest for delay” for the period after 1 January 2016.

The Amending Act of 9 October 2015 provided for a separate intertemporal rule with respect to changes in the Act of 8 March 2013 on terms of payment in commercial transactions, which concerned not only the amount of interest but also other issues. Pursuant to Art. 55.1 of the Amending Act of 9 October 2015 the former regulations apply to commercial transactions executed before 1 January 2016. Therefore, Art. 56 of the Amending Act of 9 October 2015 precludes application of former CC regulations to interest due for the period before the effective date of the amendment, whereas Art. 55 of that Act requires that the former provisions be applied to an entire transaction, which concerns also previously applicable interest constructions provided for in the Act on terms of payment in commercial transactions. The authors also analyse the problem of popular framework agreements, which are not commercial transactions within the meaning of the Act on terms of payment in commercial transactions. In this case, the application of former or new regulations of the Act on terms of payment in commercial transactions is determined by the date of conclusion (under a framework agreement) of each commercial transaction.