Payment and Deferment Defences After Enforcement Becomes Final

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

Payment of the debt after enforcement becomes final, or the creditor granting the debtor additional time, may create a new legal situation affecting continuation of proceedings. Article 71 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law provides a special remedy for cancellation or postponement of enforcement where these circumstances are proved by specified documents.

The timing of the allegation is important in this application. Defences arising before enforcement became final and payment or deferment occurring afterwards are not assessed under the same regime. The statutory documentary requirements suited to a limited examination define the application's scope. Not every witness account serves the same evidentiary function.

A payment allegation requires clarification of which debt the amount concerns and whether interest and expenses have been covered. Partial payment generally affects only the corresponding portion. The time granted by the creditor concerns postponement of progress rather than complete termination of enforcement.

An allegation that the claim became time-barred after enforcement became final is also considered under the special provision. Actions interrupting limitation, the commencement of the period, and the nature of the claim must be examined together. The absence of collections in a file for a long time does not, by itself, establish that limitation has expired.

For example, submitting a payment document issued by the creditor to the enforcement file and bringing an ordinary court action disputing the debt's merits are different remedies. The enforcement court's documentary examination does not resolve every dispute comprehensively. Where the special application's conditions are absent, the appropriate action for asserting the substantive-law claim must be assessed separately.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.