SK
SK
International road haulage

Recovering unpaid carriage charges under the CMR Convention

Carriage charges left unpaid by a customer established in the Slovak Republic. We take the file on, check limitation under Article 32 of the CMR Convention and run the matter from the letter before action through to enforcement.

We act for carriers, freight forwarders and logistics operators — Slovak and foreign alike — whose customer has not paid the invoice for carriage already performed.

We work in English and Slovak and can run the whole matter remotely.

Send us the file+421 907 823 239
Who we act for

What we do and for whom

We focus on monetary claims arising from international carriage of goods by road where the debtor is established in the Slovak Republic.

Carriers

Unpaid carriage charges for carriage already performed — including cases where the customer never disputed the invoice and simply does not pay.

Freight forwarders

Claims against the customer, and clarifying your position in the customer — forwarder — carrier chain.

Foreign creditors

Polish, Lithuanian, Czech and other foreign companies whose debtor is based in Slovakia. We conduct the proceedings before Slovak courts and enforcement officers on your behalf.

Deducted and disputed invoices

Deductions for delay, damage to the goods or alleged breach of the transport order. We assess which of the deductions stand up under the CMR Convention and the contract.

What it rests on

What is decided on day one

Two things have to be established before the first letter goes out: how long the claim can still be brought, and which law governs it. Both answers follow from the CMR Convention, published in the Slovak Republic as Decree of the Minister of Foreign Affairs No. 11/1975 Coll. Under its Article 1(1) the Convention applies to every contract for the carriage of goods by road in vehicles for reward where the place of taking over of the goods and the place designated for delivery, as set out in the contract, are situated in two different countries, of which at least one is a contracting country — irrespective of the place of residence and the nationality of the parties.

Limitation under Article 32 CMR

Under Article 32(1) of the Convention, the period of limitation for an action arising out of carriage under the Convention is one year; in the case of wilful misconduct, or such default as is considered equivalent to wilful misconduct by the law of the court seised of the case, the period is three years. A claim for payment of the carriage charges is not a claim for loss, damage or delay, so the residual category in Article 32(1)(c) comes into play: time runs from the expiry of three months after the making of the contract of carriage, and the day on which the period starts is not included in it. In practice the claim may be time-barred roughly fifteen months after the contract of carriage was concluded — from the conclusion of the contract, not from the invoice due date. Under Article 32(2) of the Convention, a written claim suspends the running of the limitation period until the day on which the carrier rejects the claim in writing and returns the documents attached to it; a further claim in the same matter does not suspend it again. That provision is framed around a claim rejected by the carrier — a letter before action by which the carrier itself pursues the carriage charges against the customer does not fall within its wording and does not suspend time. Apart from the case under paragraph 2, Article 32(3) provides that suspension and interruption of the limitation period are governed by the law of the court seised of the case; before a Slovak court that means Section 402 of the Commercial Code, under which time stops running only upon an act treated as the commencement of court proceedings or as the assertion of the right in proceedings already commenced. Reminders sent to the debtor do not extend the period.

Whether a carrier's claim for carriage charges is governed by the one-year period under Article 32 CMR or by the general four-year limitation period under Section 397 of the Slovak Commercial Code is not treated uniformly in professional practice. Given that uncertainty, it is appropriate to work with the shorter period.

Applicable law under the Rome I Regulation

Where the parties have not chosen the applicable law, it is determined under Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 (Rome I): the law of the country of the carrier's habitual residence applies, provided that the place of receipt or the place of delivery or the consignor's habitual residence is also situated in that country. If those requirements are not met, the law of the country where the place of delivery as agreed by the parties is situated applies. Under Article 5(3), the law of another country applies where it is clear from all the circumstances of the case that the contract, in the absence of a choice of law, is manifestly more closely connected with that other country; the rule therefore does not displace a valid choice of law under Article 3.

The CMR Convention takes precedence to the extent that it governs the matter — this follows from Section 756 of the Slovak Commercial Code. Article 25(1) of the Rome I Regulation also provides that the Regulation does not prejudice the application of international conventions to which Member States are parties and which lay down conflict-of-law rules relating to contractual obligations. The law determined under the Regulation therefore applies only to questions the Convention does not govern; the carrier's claim for carriage charges is one of them.

Where the action can be brought — Article 31 CMR

Under Article 31(1) of the Convention the claimant may bring an action in the courts of a contracting country designated by agreement between the parties, in the courts of the country in which the defendant is ordinarily resident or has his principal place of business or the branch or agency through which the contract of carriage was made, or in the courts of the country where the place of taking over of the goods or the place designated for delivery is situated; no other courts may be seised. Where the debtor is established in the Slovak Republic, or the goods were unloaded here, the Slovak courts have jurisdiction.

Under Article 71(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 (Brussels I bis) the Regulation does not affect conventions which, in relation to particular matters, govern jurisdiction or the recognition and enforcement of judgments; under Article 71(2)(b) a judgment given in the exercise of jurisdiction provided for in such a convention is recognised and enforced in the other Member States in accordance with that Regulation. Where the convention itself lays down conditions for recognition or enforcement — Article 31(3) of the CMR Convention makes enforceability in the other contracting countries subject to the formalities prescribed there — those conditions apply; in any event, the provisions of the Regulation on recognition and enforcement, and therefore enforcement without a declaration of enforceability, may be applied.

Procedure

How it runs

1

Taking the file on and analysing it

We take over the transport order, the CMR consignment note and the invoice. We verify whether the matter is governed by the CMR Convention, how long the claim can still be brought and what exactly makes up the principal sum.

2

Checking the debtor

We check the commercial register, published financial statements, pending enforcement proceedings, and bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings. That shows whether proceedings are worth bringing and in what order to proceed.

3

Letter before action

We prepare and send a demand for payment quantifying the principal, default interest and the flat-rate compensation for recovery costs. The demand also forms the basis for the steps that follow.

4

Slovak payment order proceedings

If the debtor does not pay, we file an application under Act No. 307/2016 Coll. The application is filed exclusively by electronic means and the District Court Banská Bystrica has exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction. Where the payment order would have to be served on the defendant abroad, this route is not available (Section 3(6)(d) of the Act) — the European order for payment under Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 then comes into play. Nor is the application admissible where the default interest claimed under the contract exceeds by more than five percentage points the rate that would apply without such an agreement (Section 3(5)(a) of the Act).

5

Payment order or statement of opposition

The court issues the payment order no later than ten working days after the procedural conditions, including payment of the court fee, are met. From service of the payment order the defendant then has 15 days either to pay or to file a statement of opposition, which must be reasoned on the merits. If none is filed, the payment order has the effects of a final judgment; if one is filed, we respond to it and, within the 15-day period, apply for the proceedings to continue before the court having jurisdiction under the Civil Contentious Procedure Code.

6

Enforcement

Once the decision is final and enforceable, we file an application for enforcement. The District Court Banská Bystrica has exclusive jurisdiction over enforcement proceedings and assigns the case to an enforcement officer at random — the creditor does not choose the officer. Where enforcement is already under way against the same debtor and the court has issued an authorisation to an officer, Section 55(4) of the Enforcement Code assigns every further case against that debtor to that same officer, and the random selection is not used.

7

Escalation — bankruptcy

Where it turns out that the debtor is failing to pay several creditors, a bankruptcy petition and a claim against the statutory body for damage caused by failing to file in time come into consideration. We assess every such step separately: under Section 11(4) of Act No. 7/2005 Coll. a creditor is liable to the debtor and to other persons for damage arising from the effects of the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings if the court discontinues proceedings commenced on the creditor's petition because the debtor's solvency has been established, unless the creditor proves that it acted with professional care in filing the petition. A bankruptcy petition is therefore not a pressure tactic.

Documents

What we need from you

In most matters five documents are enough. Send them as scans or photographs; originals are not needed at this stage.

  • The transport order or contract of carriage — including the e-mail exchange under which it was concluded.
  • The CMR consignment note, including the consignee's confirmation of receipt of the goods.
  • The invoice for the carriage charges and proof that it was sent to the debtor.
  • Proof of delivery, and any further transport documents.
  • Correspondence with the debtor — reminders, claims, notified deductions, part payments.
Fees

What it costs

The scope and the fee are agreed in advance and in writing. You know the price for the assessment and for the letter before action before we start work.

Assessment of the matter

fixed fee agreed in advance

We go through the documents, check limitation and the applicable law and set out the procedure we propose. We quote the fee before any work starts; if you decide not to go ahead, the matter ends there.

Letter before action

fixed fee per step

Preparing and sending the demand for payment, including the calculation of default interest and the flat-rate compensation for recovery costs. Agreed as a fixed sum for the step, not at an hourly rate.

Representation in proceedings

fixed fee or contingency fee

Under Section 7(1) of Decree of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic No. 655/2004 Coll., a contingency fee may be agreed in the form of a percentage share in the value of the matter; under Section 7(2) its maximum amount may not exceed 20 % of that value. Under Section 8(1) of the Decree it becomes payable only where the client has been fully successful in the matter; where the client is partly successful the lawyer is entitled under Section 8(2) to the tariff fee determined according to the degree of success, and where the client has not been successful even in part the lawyer may under Section 8(3) claim only reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses.

Out-of-pocket expenses arise alongside the lawyer's fee, court fees in particular. In payment order proceedings the court fee is, under Section 11c(1) of Act No. 71/1992 Coll. on court fees, 50 % of the percentage rate set out in the schedule of fees; the basic rate under item 1(a) of the schedule is 6 % of the value of the subject matter, so 3 % in these proceedings, but not less than 25 euros and not more than 25 000 euros, or 50 000 euros in commercial matters. The court does not call on the applicant to pay it, and if the fee is not paid within 15 days of filing, the application is disregarded. The court fee for an application for enforcement is 25 euros under item 13(a) of the schedule. The outcome of proceedings depends on the circumstances of the individual case, in particular on the debtor's assets.

No obligation

Send us the papers on your claim

Tell us which carriage the claim concerns and what the customer has left unpaid. We will get back to you and set out the next steps. Submitting this form does not create a lawyer-client relationship.

+421 907 823 239klienti@tkak.sk
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

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The legislation this page is based on

The full text of each instrument is available on Slov-Lex and EUR-Lex. The information above is general and does not replace advice on an individual matter.