Interruption of the prescription for out-of-court claims in personal actions

Abstract

On 7 October 2015 Law 42/2025 entered into force, amending article 1964 section 2 of the Civil Code and reducing the general prescription term for personal actions from fifteen to five years. This legal amendment should not have great legal relevance except because it is applicable to contractual obligations, which despite being originated during the previous 15 year regulation, have not been exercised during the 5 years following Law 42/2015 entry into force. That is, before 7 October 2020, unless prescription was interrupted by way of any of the means established by article 1973 of the Civil Code. This paper makes a fresh review of court decisions so that a creditor´s out-of-court claim can be considered a valid instrument to interrupt personal actions prescription term.