The judicial recess begins on 20 July each year and ends on 31 August. During this period the courts hear only the urgent matters listed in the law; the rule applied to time limits for actions and enforcement proceedings, however, is frequently misunderstood.
What happens to time limits?
Under the Code of Civil Procedure, time limits do not run during the judicial recess. The critical point is this: a period expiring during the recess is not automatically postponed to the day the recess ends. Where a period expires within the judicial recess, it is deemed extended by one week from the day the recess ends.
In other words, following the end of the judicial recess on 31 August, there is an opportunity to act until 7 September in respect of periods that expired during the recess. This one week is the detail most often confused in practice.
The judicial recess is not a “pause” but a period in which time limits are subject to a special regime. Always have the date of any notice served on you checked, along with whether its period falls within the recess.
Matters heard during the recess
Not all judicial activity stops during the recess. Applications for interim injunctions and precautionary attachment, the taking of evidence, matters involving detained persons, urgent matters relating to maintenance and custody, and other matters deemed urgent by law continue to be heard in this period.
Enforcement proceedings
Enforcement and bankruptcy offices have no judicial recess; enforcement proceedings continue during this period. However, the judicial recess must not be confused with the enforcement recess, a separate concept specific to enforcement law.
What should you do?
Record the date of every notice that reaches you in July and August, and have the applicable period checked by a lawyer. In files left waiting on the assumption that “it is the judicial recess anyway”, a period falling outside the scope of the extension rule may be missed.
