Civil Procedure and Enforcement Procedure
What is tested
Act No. 99/1963 Sb., občanský soudní řád (OSŘ), and Act No. 120/2001 Sb., exekuční řád (EŘ), which created a dual system: judicial enforcement by the court and enforcement by a soudní exekutor. Questions focus on the title, the court's authorisation, remedies and time limits.
Core rules
- Principles: dispoziční (the claimant defines the dispute), projednací (parties offer evidence, § 120), volné hodnocení důkazů (§ 132), equality of arms and publicity.
- Právní moc: a decision is final when no ordinary remedy is admissible. Vykonatelnost comes when the period fixed for performance has expired. Only an executory decision is a title.
- Exekuční tituly (Art. 40 EŘ): judgments, arbitration awards, notarial and executors' deeds, enforceable administrative decisions, and foreign titles once recognised.
- The court, not the exekutor, decides on the nařízení exekuce: the creditor files a návrh with the district court, which authorises an exekutor; the exekutor then issues a pověření. Appeal against the authorisation lies within 15 days.
- Remedies: odvolání within 15 days of service of the written judgment (§ 204); dovolání to the Nejvyšší soud within 2 months and only on legal grounds; žaloba pro zmatečnost; obnova řízení. In enforcement: návrh na odklad (§ 54 EŘ), návrh na zastavení (§ 55 EŘ and § 268 OSŘ), and an appeal against the exekuční příkaz.
- Costs follow success (§ 142); enforcement costs are charged to the debtor once execution is ordered.
Worked example
A creditor holds a judgment for CZK 80,000 payable within three days of právní moc. The judgment becomes final on 1 March, so the three-day period ends on 4 March. A návrh na nařízení exekuce filed on 4 March is premature; filing on 5 March is safe. If the debtor pays after the order, he must document the payment and seek zastavení under § 268 OSŘ - a letter to the exekutor does not stop the sale.
Traps
Equating právní moc with vykonatelnost; believing the exekutor decides to order execution (he only carries it out after the court's authorisation); forgetting that an appeal does not suspend enforceability unless odklad is granted; miscounting the 15-day appeal period from the wrong date.