The Act of December 2, 2021, amending the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, and certain other acts (Journal of Laws, item 2459) entered into force on June 30, 2022. The amendment includes changes to the limitation period, the institution of exploitation, and tenant liability.
The change I would like to discuss concerns the rules for suspending and interrupting the limitation period . The amending act introduces additional grounds for suspending the limitation period into Article 121 of the Civil Code, namely:
Art. 121 [Suspension] The limitation period shall not commence, and if it has commenced, it shall be suspended:
- claims covered by the mediation agreement during the mediation period and
- claims covered by the request for an attempt at settlement during the conciliation proceedings.
At the same time, the initiation of mediation proceedings was removed from the grounds for interrupting the limitation period regulated in Article 123 of the Civil Code.
The above changes should result in a decline in the popularity of the application for a summons to a settlement, which in practice was often used by creditors solely to interrupt the limitation period, rather than to effectively reach an agreement with the debtor. The change aims to restore the original function of mediation and conciliation proceedings, which is to amicably resolve disputes between the parties.
In accordance with the transitional provisions, the existing provisions will apply to mediation or conciliation proceedings initiated before the date of entry into force of the new provisions (i.e. 30 June 2022).
