Grace period
A grace period is a period that the obligee can set the debtor in the event of non-compliance with the contractual agreements (or, as lawyers put it, a performance failure in a mutual contract ) to effect the performance or for subsequent performance .
Significance in Germany
Regulations on the grace period can be found u. a. in the German Civil Code (BGB): Section 281 (1), Section 323 (1), Section 636 , Section 637 BGB.
The unsuccessful expiry of the grace period (if other conditions are met) can lead to the creation of a claim for damages on the part of the obligee ( Section 280 Paragraphs 1 and 3, Section 281 BGB), which takes the place of the previous obligation to perform. The unsuccessful expiry of a grace period is, however, also a prerequisite for withdrawal according to Section 323 (1) BGB. If the supplementary performance is impossible according to § 275 BGB, a grace period is basically obsolete; it would also be pointless. For damages instead of performance, this is made clear by Section 283 of the German Civil Code (BGB), and in the case of withdrawal by Section 326 (5) of the BGB. But even if a grace period is fundamentally necessary, this can in exceptional cases be dispensable, as the provisions of Section 281 (2) and Section 323 (2) of the BGB show.
The start of the period ( § 187 BGB) and the end of the period ( § 188 BGB) are based on the general provisions in accordance with § 186 BGB.
The threat of rejection of the service if the deadline is not met is no longer necessary today, unlike under previous law.
literature
- Mankowski: How do you set a grace period correctly ?, ZGS 2003, p. 451 ff.
- Schroeter: The calculation of deadlines in civil law, JuS 2007, p. 29 ff.
- Ludes / Lube: Setting a deadline - The request for "immediate" performance in §§ 281, 286 and 323 BGB, MDR 2009, p. 1317 ff.
