Limitation period calculator

Common limitation periods

• General limitation period3 years · Art. 257 of the Civil Code
• Recovery of a forfeit (fine, penalty)1 year · Art. 258(2)(1) of the Civil Code
• Refutation of false information in the media1 year · Art. 258(2)(2) of the Civil Code
• Defects of goods sold1 year · Art. 258(2)(4) of the Civil Code
• Termination of a gift agreement1 year · Art. 258(2)(5) of the Civil Code
• Invalidation of a decision of a general meeting of a company1 year · Art. 258(2)(8) of the Civil Code

How the limitation period is counted

1. The general limitation period is three years (Art. 257 of the Civil Code). For some claims the law sets a special period: one year for a forfeit, a refutation of information in the media, defects of goods and other claims (Art. 258).
2. The period starts on the day the person learned or could have learned of the violation of their right and of the person who violated it (Art. 261(1)). It is counted from the next day (Art. 253). A period in years ends on the same month and date of the last year; a period in months on the same date of the last month, or on its last day if that month has no such date (Art. 254(1), (3)).
3. A day off. If the last day is a weekend, a public holiday or another day off, the period ends on the first working day after it (Art. 254(5)). Under martial law public holidays are working days (Art. 6(6) of Law No. 2136-IX), so they do not move the period. Before 24.03.2022 a day off moved from a holiday on a Saturday or a Sunday was also a day off (Labour Code Art. 67(3)).
4. Quarantine and martial law. If the period had not run out on 02.04.2020, it was extended for the quarantine to 30.06.2023 (item 12 of the Final and Transitional Provisions of the Civil Code), then for martial law to 29.01.2024 (item 19 as worded by Law No. 2120-IX), and from 30.01.2024 its running was suspended for martial law (item 19 as worded by Law No. 3450-IX). The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court said so on 02.07.2025, case No. 903/602/24.
5. The running again from 04.09.2025. Law No. 4434-IX deleted item 19. From 04.09.2025 the period runs again with the time that ran before the suspension (Art. 263(3)). The calculator takes it that the period did not run from 02.04.2020 to 03.09.2025: it counts the days that ran before 02.04.2020 and the rest of the period from 04.09.2025. If the period started after 02.04.2020, all of it runs from 04.09.2025. This is a reading of the resolution, because the Grand Chamber did not count an end day.
6. Civil Code periods only. The extension and the suspension apply to a limitation period set by the Civil Code (Arts. 257, 258 and the other articles named in items 12 and 19). For a period set by another law, check that law.
7. An expired period does not stop a claim being filed. The court applies it only on the application of a party made before the decision, and it is then a ground to dismiss the claim. If the court finds the reasons for the delay valid, the right is protected (Art. 267).

The calculator does not apply the facts of a case: an interruption (Art. 264 of the Civil Code), a party serving in the Armed Forces (Art. 263(1)(4)) and other grounds of suspension. Check the term against the Civil Code in force.