In law, time plays a crucial role. How are deadlines calculated? When can you file an appeal? When does your right expire? If you don’t make sure you meet the deadlines, you may miss the opportunity to defend yourself in court or to enforce your rights. In our article, we’ll explain the difference between a deadline and a period of time, how deadlines are calculated, and why it’s important to watch every day.
In common parlance, the terms time limit and time can be used interchangeably without fundamentally changing the meaning of the message. However, in the context of law and statutes, each of these terms has slightly different meanings and implications for your rights and obligations.
A time limit is a period of time during which you must perform a particular legal act, such as filing an appeal or paying a debt. If you don’t do this in time, the time limit will expire and you may lose your right – for example, you may lose the ability to appeal against the decision. You may also be ordered by the court to do something, such as pay a debt, within the time limit.
Time, on the other hand, refers to the interval of time after which a legal consequence occurs without you having to do anything. The legal consequences occur automatically when the time expires, regardless of your actions. An example of this is the notice period in employment law, where the employment relationship ends when the notice period expires. Unlike a time limit, a period can end on a weekend or holiday without being postponed.
Distinguishing between a time limit and a period is crucial, as a misunderstanding can lead to a loss of your rights or, conversely, unreasonable expectations.
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As already mentioned, the time limit tells us by when you have to take a certain action, for example, file an appeal. To avoid making a mistake, it is important to know the correct way to calculate the start and end of the time limit. In Czech law, it is generally the case that the day on which the event from which the time limit is calculated occurs is not included in the running of the time limit. Therefore, the time limit does not begin to run until the following day.
Let’s take a practical example: if you were served with a judgment on Monday and you have 15 days to appeal, the time limit does not start to run until the following day, i.e. Tuesday. Adding the 15 days, the time limit should end on Tuesday.
In law, it often happens that the last day of the time limit falls on a weekend or public holiday. In this case, it is important to know that the deadline is automatically extended. According to the Civil Code and other legal provisions, if the last day of the deadline falls on a rest day (Saturday, Sunday or public holiday), the deadline is extended until the next working day. If you are required to take a legal action on the last day of the deadline, it is essential to ensure that you are able to do so in practice (for example, by submitting a letter to the office).
In practice, therefore, the time limit for appealing may take a little longer than it might at first appear. It is therefore important to keep a close eye on each deadline. It is always a good idea to check the specific rules that apply to your case.
Let’s take a concrete example: if the last day of the deadline falls on a Saturday, for example, the deadline will automatically extend to Monday. However, if Monday were, for example, 28 October, a public holiday, the deadline would not end until Tuesday.
In Czech law, time limits are divided into substantive and procedural time limits, each of which has its own specific consequences and application. It is important to understand how these time limits work to avoid unpleasant surprises.
Substantive time limits are time limits that determine the amount of time during which you have the right to pursue your claim, such as the collection of a debt. If you miss this time limit, your right is extinguished and you can no longer enforce it. These time limits are generally non-extendable and cannot be waived. A typical example is the statute of limitations – if you do not assert your claim in time, the debtor may successfully argue that the claim is time-barred and you will lose your right.
On the other hand, there are procedural time limits, which are used in judicial or administrative proceedings and set out when you must take certain procedural steps, such as filing an appeal or submitting evidence. Missing a procedural deadline does not always mean losing a right, as in some cases it is possible to ask for it to be restored. In practice, this means that if you have an excusable reason (e.g. illness), the court or administrative authority may waive the time limit and give you another chance to file.
The difference between these time limits is therefore crucial: while substantive time limits protect the law itself, procedural time limits only concern the correct procedure in the proceedings.
Tip: Do you have administrative proceedings coming up and would you like to prepare for them? Or are you a participant in the ongoing process and want to know the next steps of the administrative authority? In our next article, we will introduce the course of the administrative procedure, get to know the participants in the procedure and also focus on what to do if the administrative authority does not fulfil its role.
Where a time limit or period is determined by a number of days, it shall commence at midnight (24.00 hours) on the day on which the event from which it is based occurred and shall end the relevant number of days later. For example, a 10-day period or period that starts on the date of delivery of the letter on 5 October will end on 15 October.
If the period or period is determined by a number of weeks, months or years, then it will end on the day which coincides in number or designation with the day from which the period starts, i.e. a two-week period calculated from Friday 4 October 2024 will end on Friday 18 October 2024, a monthly period will end in this case on 4 November 2024 and a yearly period on 4 October 2025.
If a monthly deadline were set from, for example, 30 January and we do not have the same month in February, then the deadline would end on the last day of the month, 28 February.
When a deadline expires in vain in law, it can have serious consequences for you – loss of the right, loss of the ability to appeal, or even financial loss.
Let’s go back to our example of the time limit for appeal. If you do not file an appeal within the time limit, the judgment will become final and you will lose your ability to defend against it. When the time limit expires in vain, no action can be taken to “undo” it and your ability to defend yourself is gone.
Another example is time limits for debt collection. For example, if you do not request repayment of a debt in time and the limitation period expires, the debtor can successfully argue in court that the debt is time-barred and you lose your ability to recover the debt.
In some cases, especially procedural deadlines, you can ask for them to be reinstated if you missed the deadline for reasons the court finds excusable (for example, illness).
Tip: The Code of Civil Procedure is a key piece of legislation that regulates the procedure of the courts in civil cases. It therefore sets out the rules for court proceedings relating to civil disputes such as divorce, property disputes and debt recovery. What does the Code of Civil Procedure regulate and what can be expected from the judicial process?
Keeping an eye on deadlines in legal matters is crucial, as missing even one day can mean losing your rights or your ability to appeal. To avoid this, it is important to have an effective system for managing deadlines and time limits.
The first step is to immediately check all deadlines as soon as you receive an important document such as a court order or official letter. As soon as you receive a judgment, for example on a Monday, you need to immediately calculate that the 15-day appeal period starts from the following day, Tuesday. Use a diary, an electronic calendar or a reminder system to set a reminder a few days before the deadline so you have plenty of time to respond.
If you want to consult a lawyer about the matter, contact them immediately to make sure everything gets done. An advantage in this case is the possibility of an online consultation. In some cases, the filing itself can be made solely to meet the deadline and its content can be completed later. This is typically encountered in so-called blanket appeals.
Another tip is to regularly check the mail, especially registered mail, as well as the data box. If you do not collect the document, the time limit can be calculated from the date on which the mail is deemed to have been delivered, even if you have not collected the mail. This is known as the so-called “fiction of delivery”.
Managing deadlines consistently can save you a lot of trouble and ensure that your rights are always protected.
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Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 10 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
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