Hotărârea prin contumacie și termenul cererii de anulare
SRL X sued SRL Y for 480,000 lei in the Chișinău court. The summons was sent to an address taken from an old supply contract, although SRL Y's registered address in the State Register was in Bălți. The postal letter was returned with the note 'destinatar absent'. The court did not verify the register and issued a default judgment on 14 February 2025, upholding the claim in full. SRL Y's director learned of the judgment on 20 April 2025, when a bailiff contacted him about enforcement. On 5 May 2025 the company filed an application for annulment of the default judgment. On 12 May 2025 it also filed an appeal. SRL X argues that both filings are late and that the company was validly summoned at its contractual address.
1. What is the correct procedural remedy against the default judgment, and is the application of 5 May 2025 timely?
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The correct remedy is the application for annulment of the default judgment, not an ordinary appeal. A default judgment is issued when the defendant was lawfully summoned but failed to appear; the special remedy is available within 15 days from communication of the judgment. The critical fact is that there was no lawful communication: the summons went to an old contractual address, not to the registered address in the State Register.
The 15-day term therefore cannot be counted from 14 February 2025. It runs from the moment the defendant actually learned of the judgment, which was 20 April 2025. Counting from 20 April, 5 May 2025 is the fifteenth day. The application is timely if the defendant proves the date of learning and the absence of prior communication. The parallel appeal of 12 May is not the proper remedy and should be treated as inadmissible or as an alternative, but it does not destroy the timely annulment application.
2. Did the court violate the defendant's right to be summoned, and what should it verify?
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Yes, prima facie. The right to be summoned and heard is a fundamental procedural guarantee. The court must use the defendant's registered address from the State Register, not an address chosen by the claimant from an old contract. If the letter is returned, the court must verify the address, attempt other lawful notification methods, and consider whether the defendant is avoiding service. A bare note 'destinatar absent' does not prove lawful summoning.
The court should check the State Register extract, the postal tracking, the date of the return, and whether any alternative service was attempted. It should also hear SRL Y on the merits only if the annulment is refused. If the court finds that SRL Y was not lawfully summoned, the default judgment must be annulled and the case retried. The claimant's argument that the contractual address was valid is weak because a contractual address does not replace the registered address for procedural notifications.
3. If the annulment is granted, what happens to the judgment and to the claim?
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The default judgment is set aside and the case is retried by the same court. Annulment does not automatically dismiss SRL X's claim; it restores the adversarial stage that was missing. SRL Y must be lawfully summoned and given the opportunity to file a defence, raise objections, request evidence and possibly invoke prescription or set-off.
The retrial should not be treated as a new action. The original filing date remains relevant for procedural effects, but the court must examine whether the claim is time-barred on the merits if the defendant raises prescription. Any enforcement started on the annulled judgment must be stopped, and amounts already collected should be restored. The court should also consider whether the claimant's conduct in supplying an outdated address justifies procedural costs.