On January 14, 2021, the National Council of the Slovak Republic approved several amendments to legislation in connection with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. With regard to court and enforcement proceedings, the most significant changes are those to Act No. 62/2020 Coll. on Certain Extraordinary Measures in Connection with the Spread of the Dangerous Contagious Human Disease COVID-19 and in the Judiciary. The adopted amendments suspend the running of judicial deadlines and also regulate the procedures for meetings of collective and creditor bodies.
Effective January 19, 2021, provisions will take effect that, similar to those during the first wave, temporarily suspend the running of judicial deadlines; regulate the possibility of online meetings of creditors’ bodies and collective bodies of legal entities established by natural and legal persons, and impose an obligation to refrain from conducting auctions or performing acts aimed at the sale of assets.
The changes to the “Lex Corona” primarily concern:
a. Statutes of limitations and preclusive periods in private law relationships for the assertion or defense of rights in court are suspended from January 19 to February 28, 2021, and at the same time, those periods that expired between December 31, 2020, and January 19, 2021, will not expire before February 18, 2021.
b. As stated in subparagraph a., the procedural time limits for parties and participants in civil proceedings are also suspended.
c. In criminal proceedings, only the deadlines for filing an appeal by the defendant, their defense counsel, the victim, and any other party to the proceedings are suspended, in the same manner as specified in subparagraph a.
However, regarding procedural deadlines in civil and criminal law, if a matter cannot be postponed due to a threat to life, health, safety, freedom, or significant harm to a party or participant in the proceedings, the competent court may, by order, determine that the procedural time limits as set forth in points b. and c. shall not be suspended, while the court shall simultaneously set a new reasonable time limit. No appeal is admissible against such an order.
d. Designated persons—auctioneers, court-appointed bailiffs, and administrators under the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Act—are required, until February 28, 2021, to refrain from conducting auctions, authorizing the sale of property by an auctioneer, organizing bidding procedures, or any other competitive process aimed at the sale of property. Any act that would result in the liquidation of the debtor’s assets pursuant to the preceding sentence, performed between January 19 and February 28, 2021, shall be invalid. Until February 28, 2021, a judicial enforcement officer is obliged to refrain from enforcing a judgment by selling real estate.
e. Meetings of collective bodies of legal entities established under civil or commercial law may, during a state of emergency or a state of emergency, use voting by mail or allow their members to participate in such a body’s meeting via electronic means, even though this is not provided for in their internal regulations or articles of association. Compared to the previously effective wording, the reference to the appropriate application of the provisions of Sections 190a through 190d of the Commercial Code is deleted; provided that the conditions for decision-making by collective bodies in this manner are not provided for by law, internal regulations, or the articles of association of the legal entity, they shall be determined, in the case of the highest body of the legal entity, by the statutory body acting with due care, and in the case of another body, by that body. These conditions must be notified to the members of the body sufficiently in advance of the decision-making. “Sufficient advance notice” shall be understood to mean at least a period of time sufficient for each affected member of the collective body who is to participate in the meeting or vote to, under normal circumstances, prepare for active participation in the meeting or vote, or to authorize a third party, or to excuse their absence. For the sake of legal certainty regarding the validity of the meeting’s convening and its conduct, we recommend applying at least the same time limits that a legal entity has established for regular meetings or votes of these bodies.
f. Similar to the case of collective bodies of legal entities (mentioned in subparagraph e.), creditor bodies in bankruptcy proceedings are also permitted to conduct voting by mail or participate in their meetings via electronic means. The conditions for decision-making in this case shall be determined by the person convening such a meeting. In this case as well, the conditions for remote meetings are announced well in advance.
