Calculating Time Limits in Enforcement Law

Legal Article · 12 November 2026
Av. Thomas Andreas Di Constantinople

Time limits in enforcement law allow proceedings to progress in an orderly manner and clarify the parties' legal positions. However, not all periods begin on the same date. Some are linked to service, some to knowledge, and others to the performance of a particular enforcement action.

Article 19 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law sets out the principles for calculating periods expressed in days, weeks, and months. Whether the triggering day is included, whether the final day falls on a holiday, and the last moment for performing the action are separate questions. Provisions on electronic procedures must also be considered.

A period prescribed by law does not have the same consequences as one granted by an enforcement authority. Agreements between the parties concerning statutory periods cannot alter the law's mandatory rules. Missing a deadline may sometimes lead to loss of a particular objection remedy and sometimes render an attachment or sale request ineffective.

A delayed objection is not a freely available extension of the ordinary objection period. The debtor must have been prevented from objecting in time through no fault of their own, and the other statutory conditions must be satisfied. The impediment, the date it ceased, and the grounds of objection must be explained with concrete evidence. This remedy cannot be assumed to apply identically to every type of enforcement.

The judicial recess, weekends, and postponement of enforcement are different legal mechanisms. For example, an extension arising from the judicial recess in court proceedings does not automatically apply to every application submitted to an enforcement office. Time must be calculated by reference to the action to be performed and the provision governing it, rather than the document's name.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.