President signs first major revamp of civil law code in over fifty years

Regulations based on which the general public and entrepreneurs can assert the protection of their rights will be altered as of July 2016 following President Andrej Kiska's decision to sign three bills that will mean civil procedure law undergoing a major overhaul for the first time in over 50 years. The three pieces of legislation in question concern civil litigation procedure, civil extra-litigation procedure and administrative court procedure codes. The original civil court procedure code of 1963 had been amended more than 80 times. Courts will observe civil litigation procedure in standard litigation cases. Civil extra-litigation procedure deals with decisions concerning status issues, custody and legal capacity. The administrative court procedure focuses on powers and responsibilities in administrative courts. The measures included in the codes are expected to contribute towards accelerating court procedures and making them more efficient. This should be facilitated thanks to the institution of preliminary hearings, for example. Delays should also be avoided thanks to a newly introduced principle of concentration, whereby judges will be able to order the parties in a dispute to provide all evidence within a designated period of time. The provision of new evidence is currently being abused, with some sides in a dispute submitting additional evidence simply with a view to delaying court proceedings. In addition, the new laws introduce into the system the use of electronic mail, telephone communications, websites and data folders. This should help to make dealing with disputes more simple and efficient.