Abstract

The gloss analyses admissibility of stipulating contractual penalties for delays in performance not attributable to the debtor, in light of the position expressed in the Supreme Court judgment of 19 November 2024, II CSKP 1949/22. The author criticizes the Supreme Court’s view, arguing that it should be permissible to establish contractual penalties for non-culpable delays, provided that the contract expressly allows it. The gloss points out that the current legal framework enables the parties to a contract to extend the debtor’s liability for contractual penalties for delay to cases where the delay does not result from the debtor’s fault. The gloss examines how the principle of freedom of contract and general rules of contractual liability apply to contractual penalties, and highlights the changes introduced by the Public Procurement Law of 11 September 2019.