THE SUSPENSION OF THE GENERAL RULES OF PRESCRIPTION, INTERPRETATION OF ART. 129 IN THE ALBANIAN CIVIL CODE

In the previous news we have informed that in the Official Journal of the Republic of Albania no. 50 of 25.03.2020 was published the Normative Act no. 9, of 25.03.2020, under the title “on special measures in the field of judicial activity during the period caused by the COVID-19 epidemic”. In this act it is expected that:

All civil, criminal and administrative court hearings are suspended for the entire duration of the epidemic;

Since the entry into force of this Normative Act, the procedural rules for filing lawsuits, filing appeals and any procedural act related to civil, criminal and administrative issues are suspended. When the deadlines begin during the epidemic period, they postponed until the end of the epidemic period. This act does not refer to the general rules of prescription, but simply to the suspension of procedural rules and documents related to the process.

Do the general rules of prescription provided for in the Albanian Civil Code take effect in this situation?

In the Albanian Civil Code, the definition of force majeure is not precisely defined in a single article but is mentioned from time to time in the rules, in particular and of interest at this time is the Art. 129 of the C.C (the causes of the suspension of the prescription rules). In this Article we find the presence of “force majeure” as a cause of suspension of the general prescription rules. Can the fact of the COVID -19 epidemics be considered a “force majeure”, therefore the cause of suspension of the general prescription rules?

The practices of the international trade relations help us, (the Convention on the International Sale of Goods or the Vienna Convention of 1980) where we find these three characteristics in order to invoke the force majeure clause:

· The extraneousness event from the sphere of control of the obliged party;
· The unpredictability of the event at the time of signing the contract;
· The insurmountable event of the impeding fact or its results.

Based on this interpretation, it seems that even the general rules of prescription mentioned in Art. 129 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Albania, are suspended due to force majeure, to underline that there is no automation but the suspension of force majeure that must be notified to the person concerned.