The limitation period is the period of time that is given to a citizen who believes that his rights have been violated in order to file a claim with the judiciary. This procedure is designed to improve discipline of all participants in civil litigation and motivate citizens to protect their rights and interests.
What are the statute of limitations
The limitation period in civil proceedings is regulated by Article 195 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, and Article 198 establishes that it cannot be changed, for example, by agreement of the parties and is unchanged, even if the parties have agreed to reduce or extend it. In general cases, the limitation period for civil cases is 3 years. But the law stipulates special cases of calculating this period, which are used for some cases. So, the limitation period in case of violation by the seller of the right of pre-emption is 3 months, for the claims of the drawer against all obligated persons - 6 months. In the event that you want to bring a legal claim against a company transporting goods, this should be done within a year after the precedent.
Claims related to property insurance cases have a limitation period of 2 years, but you have the right to present claims to the inadequate quality of work of a construction company within 5 years after the discovery of a marriage. You can claim compensation for damage from oil pollution caused by discharges from ships no later than after 6 years. The shortcomings of work performed on a household contract can be brought to court within 10 years.
But the court can protect your rights even if the statute of limitations has already expired. According to article 199 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, your claim will be accepted in any case, and the case will be considered unless one of the parties declares that the statute of limitations has expired. When no such statement is made, the decision will be made regardless of whether the statute of limitations has expired or not.
In some exceptional cases, the limitation period may be suspended, for example, if the claimant is located in the territory of hostilities or the legal act on the basis of which the claim is filed has lost its force.
What is considered the beginning of the limitation period
With the starting point of the statute of limitations, everything is not so simple. In article 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it is recognized as the date when the citizen learned or should have learned that his rights were violated. The wording “should have found out” is rather vague, so each judge is free to interpret it in his own way. Most often, the beginning of the limitation period in this case is the date when the citizen sent a written notification to the party that violated his rights.
The limitation period can be extended, but the extension period does not exceed six months.
In cases where the second party has assumed obligations with an agreed period of performance, the limitation period is counted from the date following the date of performance. If a civil contract is concluded without a statute of limitations, the validity period established by law for this type of contract applies, and the limitation period is calculated from the next day after the expiration of the contract.
