Ukraine - Time Bars
Time Bars (TB) is the period of time allowed for filling a claim to court for the protection of civil rights or interests (art. 256 Civil Code of Ukraine).
The duration of general TB is three years (art. 257 CCU).
For separate types of claims the law can establish special TB: shorter or longer as compared to the general TB (art. 258 CCU).
The TB established by the law can be prolonged but it cannot be reduced on the agreement of the parties. The agreement of the TB prolongation is to be concluded in a written form (art. 259 CCU).
The TB shall be calculated based on general rules for determining terms (art. 260 CCU). The order of determining the terms of the TB cannot be changed on the agreement of the parties. The calculation of the TB shall begin from the day following the day of the corresponding calendar date or the occurrence of the event connected with its beginning (art.253 CCU). The term defined in years shall expire on the corresponding month and day of the last year of the term. The term defined in months shall expire on the corresponding day of the last month of the term. If the term defined in months expires on a month that does not have the corresponding day, the day of termination shall the last day of this month. If the last day of the term falls on a day-off, holiday or another non-working day, determined on conformity to the law at the place of committing a certain action, the day of expiration of the term shall be the first working day (art. 254 CCU). If the term was established before the commitment of the action, it can be committed before the expiration of the last day of the term. If this action must be committed at the institution, the term shall expire on the time when certain operations in this institution terminate according to the established rules. Written applications and notices mailed to a post office before the end of the last day of the term shall be considered mailed in time (art. 255 CCU).
The calculation of the TB shall begin from the day when a person became aware of the violation of his right or of the person who violated it. As concerns the obligations with defined deadline, the calculation of the TB shall begin after the expiration of the date of performance. For the obligations with non-defined deadline or defined as the moment of demand, the calculation of the TB shall begin from the day when the right of dement to execute obligations arises with the creditor. If a grace period is given to the debtor for meeting the demands, the TB shall begin after the expiration of such period. In case of recourse liability, the TB shall begin from the day of fulfillment of the main obligation (art. 261 CCU).
The substitution of parties in the obligation shall not change the order of calculation and the duration of the TB (art. 262 CCU). The duration of the TB can be terminated (art. 263 CCU).
The duration of the TB shall be interrupted by committing an action by the person, which gives evidence of the recognition of his debt or another obligation, or in case of taking an action by the person against one of several debtors, or if the subject of the suit is only a part of the claim, to which the plaintiff is entitled. After the interruption, the TB shall be counted anew. The time that passed before the interruption of the TB shall not be counted in the new term (art. 264 CCU).
Dismissal of the claim shall not terminate the TB. If the court should dismiss a claim in a criminal proceedings, the period from the day of bringing of a suit till day of the court decision, by which the suit was dismissed, coming into force shall not be included in the TB. If the remaining part of the term is less than six months, it shall be prolonged to six months (art. 265 CCU).
After the expiration of the TB in connection with the principal claim it shall be considered that the TB has also expired in connection with ancilliary suit (award of a penalty, recovery against mortgaged property, etc.) (art. 266 CCU).
The person who satisfies obligations after the expiration of the TB shall have no right to claim the recovery of the satisfaction, even if at the moment of doing so such person was not aware of the expiration of the TB. The application for the protection of a civil right or interest must be accepted by the court for consideration irrespective of the expiration of the TB. The TB is used by the court only on the application of the party in a dispute submitted before the adjudication. The expiration of the TB, the use whereof being declared by a party in a dispute, shall be the grounds for dismissal of action. If the court should recognize the reasons for missing the deadline a reasonable excuse, the violated right shall be subject to protection (art. 267 CCU).
As far as the judgment on the merits is accepted by the court of the first instance, the court of appeal shall only verify the legitimacy and relevancy of the court decision (art. 303 CPC of Ukraine), the petition of using the TB can be considered if it was submitted during the period of considering the case by the court of the first instance.
Legal relationsTime Bars and the order of calculationNormative act
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Cargo carriage agreement:
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Art. 388 Code of Merchant Shipping of Ukraine (CMSU) |
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Art. 58, 68, 69 CMSU |
| Declaration of claims to the carrier arising from the agreements of cargo, passengers and baggage carriage. | Within the first 6 months of the time bar irrespective of whether it was a coastal or an international voyage. | Art. 386 CMSU |
| Counter demand of the shipowner to other shipowners for losses that arose from the death or injury to the health of the people as the result of collision due to the guilt of all ships. | 1 year from the day of paying the corresponding amount. | Art. 300, 302 CMSU |
| Damage from the vessel pollution and nuclear damage. | 3 years from the day when the victim became aware or was to become aware that the damage had been caused to him, however, not exceeding 6 years from the day of the event that was the reason for the pollution and 15 years - from the day that has caused nuclear damage. | Art. 390 CMSU |
| Prolongation of the time bar period according to CMSU. | The time bar established for the claims stipulated by CMSU last up to 3 years in case the ship concerned could not be found in the waters of Ukraine. | Art. 393 CMSU |
| Termination of the time bar period in case of general average. | If the calculation of the amount of claim depends on the settlement in connection with general average, the flow of the time bar is terminated from the day when the average adjuster gives the ruling of the general average existence and till the day of receiving then statement of average by the interested person. | Art. 392 CMSU |
| Lease (rent) agreement | 1 year after the return of the article by the lessee. | Art. 786 CCU |
| Collection of penalty (fine) | 1 year and 6 months from legal persons. | i. 1 p. 2 art. 258 CCU, art. 232 CCU |
| Denial of unreliable information published in mass media. | 1 year from the day of publication of the information in mass media or from the day when the person became aware of this information. | i. 2 p. 2 act. 258 CCU |
| Revealing the drawbacks of goods purchased. | 1 year from the day of revealing the drawbacks within the warrantee period. 6 months from the day of establishing the drawbacks of the purchased goods by the buyer in the proper order. |
Art. 681 CCU p. 8 art. 269 CCU |
| Carriage of cargo, mail | 1 year from the moment to be determined according to transportations codes (statutes). | Art. 925 CCU |
| Violation of an employee's rights. | 3 months from the day when the worker became aware or was to became aware of the violation of his rights. | p. 1 art. 233 LCU |
| Dismissal of an employee. | 1 month from the day of handing over a copy of the order of dismissal or from the day of handing over the service record book. | p. 1 art. 233 LCU |
| Collection of wages. | Time bar is not applied. | p. 2 art. 233 LCU |
| Collection of material damage caused to the company from the employee. | 1 year from the day of revealing the damage caused by the employee. | p. 3 art. 233 LCU |
| Limitation of executing the regulations of imposing administrative penalty. | 3 months from the day of passing. | Art. 303 CUAV |
| Application to administrative court for the personal rights, freedom and interests protection. | 6 months from the day when the person became aware or was to become aware of violating his rights, freedom and interests. | P. 2 art. 99 ACPC |
| Petition to administrative court for appeal of the decision of a power entity subject, on the basis of which he can declare a claim for collecting monetary assets. | 1 month | p. 5 art. 99 ACPC |
| Claims arising from violation of personal non-property rights. | Time bar is not applied. | Art. 268 CCU |
| Claims for compensating the damage caused by invalidity, other injuries to health or death. | Time bar is not applied. | Art. 268 CCU |
| Insured's claims to the underwriter for paying insurance compensation; | Time bar is not applied. | Art. 268 CCU |
