Civil Transactions
Suspension and Interruption of the Statute of Limitations (Extinctive Prescription)
The Civil Transactions Law sets out the rules governing the suspension and interruption of the statute of limitations, which prevents a claim from being heard after the lapse of the prescribed period without any action being taken to assert or enforce the right.
The limitation period may be subject to suspension or interruption depending on the circumstances and facts affecting it.
First: Suspension of the Statute of Limitations
The running of the statute of limitations shall be suspended whenever there is an excuse preventing the creditor from asserting the right. Such grounds include:
- The existence of bona fide negotiations between the parties, which continue until the limitation period expires.
- The existence of a moral impediment preventing the creditor from filing the claim.
- Where there are multiple creditors and none of them has asserted the right, the limitation period shall apply only to those who do not have a valid excuse.
Once the excuse ceases to exist, the limitation period shall resume from the point at which it was suspended.
Second: Interruption of the Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitations shall be interrupted in the following cases:
- The debtor’s express or implied acknowledgment of the right.
- Judicial assertion of the right, even if the claim is brought before a court lacking jurisdiction.
- Any judicial action taken by the creditor to assert the right.
The transfer of a right from its holder to a successor does not result in interruption, as such transfer does not affect the calculation of the limitation period.
Third: Effect of Interruption
Interruption results in the commencement of a new limitation period equal to the original period, starting from the date on which the effect of the cause of interruption ends.
If the right is established by a judicial judgment, or is one of the rights for which the law prescribes a specific period, and the interruption resulted from the debtor’s acknowledgment, the new limitation period shall be 10 years, unless the right constitutes a recurring periodic obligation that does not become due until after the judgment is issued.
Fourth: Additional Rules
- The parties may not agree to shorten or extend the limitation period.
- The debtor may not waive in advance the right to invoke the statute of limitations before such right has arisen.
- If the debtor waives the right to invoke the statute of limitations in respect of some creditors, such waiver shall not apply to the other creditors if it causes them harm.
- The court shall not rule that a claim is time-barred due to the lapse of time except upon a plea raised by the debtor or an interested party.
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