Abstract

It should be now stated that the Act of 2 March 2020 on special solutions concerning prevention and eradication of Covid-19 (Covid-19 Act), other contagious diseases and the resulting situations of crisis, after changes introduced by the Act of 31 March 2020 amending the above-mentioned Act and certain other acts, does not directly regulate the issue of how the announcement of the state of epidemic emergency or epidemic affects limitation periods or time limits. A solution that may currently apply is the provision of Art. 121.4 of the Civil Code which provides grounds for suspending the limitation period for claims due to force majeure, provided that in a particular case it may be found that the state of epidemic emergency or epidemic has thwarted realization of the claim or another entitlement. This may be the case if a given court has ceased functioning and the president of its superior court of appeal has ordered that only urgent cases be heard by another court, which will make it impossible to bring a non-urgent case to court, so the entitled person shall not be able to interrupt the limitation period. Similarly, a party cannot perform a substantive or procedural act that affects the limitation period due to a quarantine or placement in a health care facility due to illness. Another solution could also be application of the provisions of Art. 15 of the Covid-19 Act, but the legislator decided that it shall apply to administrative deadlines only.