Code of Civil Procedure 2015 and Civil Code 2015 have certain provisions regarding the statute of limitations for initiating civil lawsuits that differ from previous regulations. However, the application of these provisions in practice to resolve cases still faces many issues due to different interpretations.
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Statute of limitations for civil lawsuits: Court consideration only upon request (Illustrative image)
1. General Legal Provisions on Statute of Limitations for Lawsuits
The statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit is the period within which an entitled individual can initiate a lawsuit in court to protect their legitimate rights and interests that have been infringed upon; if this period lapses, the right to file a lawsuit is lost. The statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit is calculated from the date the entitled person knows or should have known that their legitimate rights and interests were infringed, unless otherwise stipulated by law.
According to Clause 2, Article 184 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015: “The court shall only apply the statute of limitations upon the request of one or both parties, provided that such request is made before the Court of First Instance issues a judgment, decision to resolve the case. The beneficiary of the statute of limitations application has the right to refuse to apply the statute of limitations, except where such refusal is intended to evade obligations.”
With this provision, it can be seen that essentially all cases remain within the statute of limitations if the litigants do not request the court to apply the statute of limitations. It also means that not every case outside the statute of limitations will be terminated by the court. The court will only terminate the case when a party requests the application of the statute of limitations, and this period has expired. However, the litigant must request the court to apply the statute of limitations before the Court of First Instance issues a decision or judgment on the case.
Recently, a provincial National Assembly delegation submitted a document proposing that the Chief Procurator of the Supreme People's Procuracy review and appeal a final judgment of an appellate case, arguing that the statute of limitations for this case had expired, and therefore the court's trial was not in compliance with the law. However, it is necessary to consider whether the litigants in the above case had requested the Court of First Instance to apply the statute of limitations in resolving the case. According to current legal provisions, the statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit is not automatically applied by the court in resolving the case.
2. The Statute of Limitations is Not Automatically Applied in Civil Lawsuit Resolutions by the Court
It can be seen that the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit is not automatically applied by the court in resolving civil cases but must be requested by a related party before the Court of First Instance issues a judgment or decision. Upon receiving a request from a litigant regarding the application of the statute of limitations to resolve the case, the court shall apply the statute of limitations according to legal provisions to determine whether the request is still within the statute of limitations. If the statute of limitations still applies, the court will continue to resolve the case according to general procedures; if the statute of limitations has expired, the court will issue a decision to terminate the resolution of the case for the expired claim according to Point e, Clause 1, Article 217 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015.
In judicial practice, there is an issue of inconsistency in the application of the statute of limitations in civil case resolutions. This involves different interpretations by judges assigned to resolve cases concerning the right to request the application of the statute of limitations by litigants. Different understandings among judges and litigants regarding the statute of limitations have created obstacles in applying it in cases. In some instances, judges clearly explain the right to request the application of the statute of limitations to the parties, while in other cases, judges do not clarify this right, believing that it is the litigants' responsibility to know.
The legal consequences of these different instances are entirely different. If the judge explains, the litigant will understand their right and may request the court to apply the statute of limitations to the plaintiff's claim, the defendant's counterclaim, or an independent claim by a person with related rights and obligations if the statute of limitations has expired. If the judge does not explain, given the current legal awareness of most litigants, understanding and applying the right to request the statute of limitations is challenging. The law provides this right to litigants, but they may not know to exercise it.
Therefore, there should be guidance and legal provisions requiring judges to explain the right to request the court to apply the statute of limitations in resolving civil cases. This ensures equality in the rights and obligations of litigants before the law, as guaranteed by Clause 2, Article 8 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015.
At the same time, litigants must also prepare themselves with legal knowledge about the statute of limitations to utilize and protect their legitimate rights and interests.
Duc Thao
