Abstract

The commented judgment concerns the problem of validity of reserving a contractual penalty for delay in performing an obligation as of a specified percentage of the contractual remuneration for each day of delay without specifying the deadline for its charging or its maximum amount. The author is critical of the Supreme Court’s view that a contractual penalty reserved without these parameters all the same meets the requirement of a „specified amount” provided for in Art. 483 § 1 of the Civil Code. The author also criticises the Supreme Court’s assumption that the debtor – in case of a penalty of an unknown maximum amount or an unknown time horizon has been reserved – is protected by the statute of limitations and contractual penalty abridgement.