What is the purpose of a payment order?

Chapters of the article

• Application for a payment order
• Court procedure before issuing a payment order
• What happens after the order for payment is issued?
• Defence against the order for payment
• Special forms of order for payment

Application for a payment order

A common way to enforce your rights or claims in court is by filing a lawsuit. An application for an order for payment is essentially a special type of action. It may be preceded by the unsuccessful recovery of the amount you are entitled to, or even by an unsuccessful out-of-court settlement. You can expect a resolution within weeks of the application being served on the court. If even this procedure is not successful, you will have in your hands the basis for initiating enforcement proceedings.

The advantage over filing a regular lawsuit is therefore primarily speed and efficiency. On the other hand, it is important to know that it is far from possible to use this institution instead of a lawsuit in all cases.

The conditions for applying for an order for payment are as follows:

• you are claiming payment of a sum of money (i.e. not, for example, the performance of an obligation, an action, etc.),
• you have sufficient evidence to establish your right to payment – for example, you have overdue invoices and a specific order. It is therefore not a case that would require, for example, the calling of witnesses or more extensive proof,
• the defendant’s whereabouts are known and he is not abroad,
• it is not a case in which the court has to hear and determine the case in chambers (more complex cases),
• thedefendant is a person of full age and capacity.

What the proposal should contain:

• the name of the court to which the application is addressed,
• identification of the applicant and the defendant (name, surname, residence, and, in the case of a trader, place of business or registered office and registration number),
• what your submission relates to,
• a description of all the relevant facts, together with the evidence relied on,
• what you are claiming,
• date and handwritten signature.
• The application for the issuance of a payment order must be submitted in writing, in duplicate, to the district court in whose district the defendant’s place of business or registered office is located (in Brno, the Municipal Court is used instead of the district court, while in Prague it is the competent district court).

Payment of the court fee is also a condition for the commencement of the proceedings. As a rule, it is sufficient to stick a collection of a minimum value of CZK 1,000 on the petition. The specific amount of the fee depends on the amount requested. You can also reduce the fee for filing an electronic payment order if you hold a guaranteed electronic signature (see below).

Court procedure before issuing a payment order

The court will first examine the formalities of the application. For example, if the court fee has not been paid, it will then ask you to pay it and set a deadline for you to do so.

If the documents sent are sufficient, the court may issue an order for payment, ordering the defendant to pay the amount within 15 days of service. The order for payment is issued without a hearing and therefore without the defendant being heard. The court may do so even if an ordinary action is brought without an express request, provided that all the above conditions are met.

The order for payment contains an obligation on the defendant to pay the debt and the costs of the proceedings to the claimant within 15 days of the date of service of the order for payment (or, alternatively, to lodge an opposition to the order for payment with the court which issued the order for payment within the same period). The order for payment may also be accompanied by a notice to submit a statement of defence within a specified period.

What follows the issue of the order for payment?

Since the defendant’s rights are to a large extent restricted in these summary proceedings, such restrictions must be at least partially compensated for. First of all, the order for payment must indeed be served in the defendant’s own hands, so that he can demonstrably acquaint himself with it. Substituted service is therefore excluded. If the order cannot be served, it is set aside and the proceedings continue with a traditional judgment.

Defence against the order for payment

The defendant may lodge the aforementioned defence against the order for payment. If he makes use of this form of remedy within the 15-day time limit, the order for payment is also annulled and the court proceedings continue in the traditional way.

If the defendant does not make use of the possibility of resistance, the order for payment is a judgment with all its effects, in particular the obtaining of an enforcement order for further possible proceedings in the event that the defendant does not pay the amount even now.

Special forms of order for payment

Electronic order for payment

In order to speed up and further streamline the process, a claimant who has a guaranteed electronic signature can file an application for an electronic order for payment. Simply fill in the prescribed form available on the website of the Ministry of Justice. The monetary compensation requested by the claimant may not exceed CZK 1 million. If the amount of the claim does not exceed one million crowns, you can shorten the proceedings to the maximum and also reduce your court fees.

European order for payment

The European order for payment is similar to a payment order, which applies to cross-border monetary claims. On the EU e-Justice website you can find the detailed procedure, including standardised forms to fill in and an overview of the courts that can issue a European order for payment and where the application form should be sent.

In the prepared form you just need to fill in all the details of the parties and the nature and amount of the claim. The court will examine your application and, if everything is in order, should issue the European order for payment within 30 days.

The European order for payment must then be served by the court on the defendant, who has 30 days to lodge any opposition. If a statement of opposition is lodged, the case can either be transferred to the ordinary civil courts, or resolved in accordance with the European Small Claims Procedure, or set aside, depending on the applicant’s choice. If the defendant does not lodge a statement of opposition, the European order for payment, like the national order, becomes automatically enforceable.