The concept of “legal power” is far from serving only lawyers. Knowing what it entails and being able to calculate when legal power comes into play is useful for everyone. If you’ve ever applied for planning permission, had a dispute with your mobile phone provider or been through a divorce, I’m sure the rule of law has affected you too.
The legal force is essentially the property of a judicial or administrative decision that makes it final, binding and unalterable(by ordinary remedies). In practice, legal force is essential – without it, a decision cannot be enforced or relied upon with certainty as to its permanence. You may encounter it, for example, in a maintenance judgment, an inheritance decree or the entry into force of a building permit, when only then can the builder actually start building. Even a final decision can be reversed in certain circumstances, but these are exceptional circumstances, i.e. with the use of exceptional remedies.
In practice, the legal force is important for you, for example, if a court decision says that you have to pay a debt or fulfil another imposed obligation within three days of the judgment becoming final.
If you are going to build, then you must obtain a building permit within the period of validity of the planning decision, usually within two years of the date of the legal force. You will find this out on the document itself, on which the building authority will mark the legal force for you on request.
Are you not satisfied with the decision of the court or administrative authority and would you like to appeal? Do you need to write your appeal so that it is bulletproof and has a chance of success? We will assess your chances of success and suggest a legal solution.
The basic prerequisite for a decision or judgment to become final is:
The judgment then becomes final:
The further aspect of finality means that the case cannot be heard and decided again. If you are represented by a lawyer in the court proceedings, he or she will look after the legal force and any time limits for the appeal for you.
What if you miss the deadline?
If you were unable to file your appeal (or other appeal) on time for serious reasons – for example, because of a sudden hospitalisation or other serious obstacle – you can ask the court to waive the delay under Section 58 of the Code of Civil Procedure. However, you must do so within 15 days of the date on which the obstacle ceased to exist, and at the same time file the procedural act that was missed (for example, the opposition or appeal). The court will then assess whether the reasons were excusable and grant the request.
Tip: Read about the legal force and other requirements and the criminal procedure itself .
Calculating the entry into force may seem quite simple – we know that it will occur, for example, 15 days after the decision is served, unless either party appeals. However – two factors can complicate the situation:
Imagine that you are served with a judgment on Friday, February 18, 2022. Adding fifteen days for filing an appeal brings us to March 5, which is, of course, a Saturday. Therefore, it would still be possible to appeal on Monday, March 7, and if that did not occur, the judgment would become final on Tuesday, March 8. The enforceability of the judgment would then also be postponed.
If you want to make sure you don’t make a mistake in calculating the legal force, you can use one of the free calculators available on the internet.
If you need to prove that a judgment has become final – for example, to apply for enforcement – you can ask the court to issue a certificate of legal force. The court will usually issue you with a document (or an electronic document) stating the date on which the decision became final. You can then attach this document to the application for enforcement or use it in other legal or official proceedings.
The legal force clause is (usually) stamped in the left-hand corner on the front of the decision.
Sometimes, however, a decision may be stamped with a legal force clause even though it has not yet become final.
This is the case, for example, where one of the addressees has been served by the court or administrative authority at an address where he or she does not live and this fact has not been indicated by the post office on the envelope. The court or administrative authority then relies on the so-called fiction of service and marks the legal force incorrectly.
Such a situation may affect you personally and practically as a party to the proceedings: for example, you were not and could not have been served with the decision and it is now considered final and you cannot appeal against it.
If the legal force has been incorrectly indicated, you can either ask for it to be annulled or challenge the decision directly by means of an ordinary appeal, stating this fact in your appeal. The Court of Appeal (or administrative authority) will then first consider whether your objection is justified and, if it finds that it is, it will annul the legal force and hear the case.
Tip: Are you facing administrative proceedings or are you already involved in any? Read on to find out what is involved so that nothing surprises you.
We always talk about legal force in the context of judicial or administrative decisions. In the case of private legal acts, for example, contracts, we also set a certain date on which certain effects are attached, but in this case we are talking about effectiveness, not legal force. In the case of contracts, as a general rule, the date on which the last party signs the contract takes effect. However, if the law stipulates that a decision of the competent authority is required for a contract, the contract is only effective upon that decision.
As already mentioned above, legal force means that the effects of the decision can take place. For example, an obligation to perform a certain performance. This is to be distinguished from the so-called enforceability of a decision, where performance can be enforced even against the will of the person on whom it was imposed. This means that if the debtor has to pay the debt and is given 3 days from the legal force of the decision to pay it, then after the expiration of these days in vain the enforceability occurs and it is possible to enforce compliance by legal means. For some decisions (e.g. interim measures), enforceability may occur even without legal force.
The legal force of a decision means that it is final, binding and cannot be challenged by an ordinary appeal. It usually occurs after the expiry of the time limit for appeal, but can also occur immediately if the law does not allow an appeal. Legal force does not automatically mean enforceability – this may occur at a later date. If the decision is final, the same matter cannot be decided again and thus becomes the basis for enforcement in certain cases. In some situations, the court may be asked to waive the time limit or to issue a certificate of legal force for further proceedings, for example in an execution.
Has the court ruled against you and do you want to fight it? We will assess your chances of success and take care of preparing an appeal, appeal or constitutional complaint depending on the proceedings and their stage.
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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