Entitlement to the Reimbursement of Costs of Proceedings in case of Absence of the Pre-Action Notice

For several years, plaintiffs (creditors) that have succeeded in proceedings on the performance of an obligation shall be entitled to the reimbursement of costs of proceedings against the defendant (debtors) only if they had sent the defendant a pre-action notice at least 7 days before filing the law suit.

 According to the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic (decision as of 19th February 2015, Reference Number 29 Cdo 4388/2013), when the court is deciding about the reimbursement of the costs of proceedings, it shall not base the decision only on the fact that the pre-action notice was not sent. The court shall also take other circumstances into consideration, e.g. the nature of the claim, its amount and defendant’s attitude to the claim and response to the initiation of legal proceedings.

 The decision of the court on the costs of proceedings is based on the circumstances that are known at the moment of court’s decision. If the defendant is not willing or capable to pay the debt even if the legal action was delivered to him, the absence of the pre-action notice shall not be the reason not to reimburse the costs of proceedings to the plaintiff according to the Supreme Court. This rule does not apply when the court decides about the legal action by issuing of the payment order, unless the payment order was subsequently cancelled.