Time determination (law)
When determining the time in civil law, the emergence or elimination of a right depends on the occurrence of a specific point in time or an event that is certain to occur .
General
In contrast to the condition , the creation or the cessation of the right are certain because the future point in time or the event is certain. The subject of a time determination is an appointment , i.e. a specific point in time. This can be a specific calendar date or a certain future event (birthday, Christmas).
The term fixed term, which is very often used in business , is a synonym. It is also a legal term that was formed from the period , i.e. a future date during the term of the contract at which either legal effects should begin or end. It is a provision contained in a legal transaction that makes the legal effect dependent on a certain future event (e.g. reaching a date) either as a start or end date.
Legal issues
In Section 163 of the German Civil Code (BGB) it is regulated that when a legal transaction is carried out, a start or end date can be set for its legal effect. Then, under this provision the intended start date ( Latin dies a quo ) analogy the rules on the suspensive condition , the deadline ( Latin dies ad quem ) on the condition subsequent apply. The provisions of § 158 BGB, § 160 BGB and § 166 BGB therefore apply to the commencement or cessation of the effect of the temporary transaction and to the protection of the contracting parties during the pending state . As a result, the legal effect of the start date only begins when the start date occurs. For example, a lease agreement on July 3 closed, but the transfer of use of the leased premises and rental payment are contractually not take place until September 1, there is the lease being in economic terms already third to contract in July, but the tenancy obligations only start on 1 September. With the end date, the legal effects end automatically on the scheduled date without the need for a termination .
Employment Law
In labor law , permanent employment contracts are the norm, but fixed-term employment contracts are also possible. According to Section 3 (1) TzBfG , an employee is employed on a fixed-term basis with a fixed-term employment contract. An employment contract concluded for a certain period of time ( fixed-term employment contract ) exists if its duration is calendar-based ( calendar-based fixed-term employment contract ) or results from the type, purpose or quality of the work ( fixed-term employment contract ). Activity and working hours can also be the subject of a fixed-term agreement, as can all components of wages . According to § 14 TzBfG, there must be factual reasons for the time limit, such as a temporary operational need for work.
Administrative law
The administrative law recognizes the possibility of an ancillary provision for administrative acts according to § 36 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 VwVfG . According to this, an administrative act with a benefit or charge that begins or ends at a certain point in time or applies for a certain period of time may contain a time limit. This permission is particularly important for all performance notices.
Time limit
Legal transactions with a deadline are also referred to as time limits . She is especially true for types of contract to which are neither immediately train to train to be provided by a final maturity agreed, but as a continuing obligation a permanent contract period is provided. Of the long-term obligations, rental , lease , loan , employment or credit agreements and leasing are the main ones. Continuing obligations are legally considered to be unlimited. They apply until one of the contracting parties terminates . But there are also legal relationships in which a time limit is provided by law from the outset. These include the qualified temporary lease ( § 575 Paragraph 1 BGB), the time guarantee ( § 777 BGB) or the fixed-term employment relationship , which was intended as an exception to the usual unlimited employment relationship . Bank balances are mostly open-ended, with the exception of limited-term deposits . What these legal transactions have in common is that they represent an originally open-ended continuing obligation, which is terminated by a deadline without the need for termination .
By setting a time limit, the contracting parties achieve a specific time limit for the performance period . Is this not yet determined the circumstances to take, so can creditors the power immediately require the debtor (it must immediately bring § 271 1 para. BGB). If, on the other hand, a performance period has been agreed, the law generally assumes that the obligee may not demand performance before this point in time, but the debtor can effect it beforehand (Section 271 (2) BGB). If the debtor does not perform by the end of the limited service period, he will automatically be in default when the deadline expires .
The start or end date does not need to be a specific date, a certain event in the future is sufficient. A certain future event is also present if the specific time of the occurrence of the event is uncertain, but there is certainty about its occurrence. In the case cited, it was about the termination of rental agreements , which should take effect as soon as the tenant could move into other business premises . According to the BGH, there is certainty that the tenant will find other rooms; The only thing uncertain is when this event will occur. The effectiveness of the termination is not dependent on a future uncertain event, but on a certain, but still indefinite event.
Individual legal transactions
In the case of certain legal transactions , the law stipulates that these can only be carried out subject to certain deadlines. This applies above all to the termination of long-term obligations (such as loan , rent , lease , credit or lease agreement ), because the addressee of the termination should be prepared for the change in the legal situation. Therefore, the law stipulates certain minimum periods ( notice periods ) that must lie between the receipt of the notice and the occurrence of its legal effects (e.g. termination of rental contracts : Section 573c BGB, notice periods in labor law : Section 621 BGB, Section 622 BGB). The conveyance must according to § 925 para. 2 BGB not take place under a time limit, the marriage is according to § 1353 para. 1 BGB closed for life and is therefore a limit not accessible (see also § 1311 BGB).
Also § 542 para. 1 BGB is generally composed of a permanent tenancy and gives the parties of termination of a statutory right of termination one. A limited tenancy ends according to § 542 Paragraph 2 BGB with the passage of time. Ordinary termination is not permitted during the term of fixed-term rental contracts ; only extraordinary termination is permitted. In the case of types of credit without regular repayment agreements ( current account credit , overdraft facility , securities lombard credit , guarantee credit ), legal relationships are usually of unlimited duration (“until further notice”); all other types of credit are limited due to repayment. As a rule, leasing contracts are limited in time, but - depending on the wear and tear of the leasing object - they can also be agreed for an unlimited period.
meaning
Time limits create planning security for the contractual partners , because they can make their future arrangements ( prolongation , change of contractual partner - change of electricity provider - or contract termination) before the deadline expires and do not need to terminate - as with open-ended contracts. The contract ends automatically when the deadline expires, with which most contracts involve changes in assets or debts .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Carl Creifelds , Creifelds Legal Dictionary , 2000, p. 1596
- ↑ Volker Friedrich-Schmid, BGB General Part , 2016, p. 193
- ↑ Winfried Boecken, BGB - General Part , 2007, p. 395
- ↑ Otto Palandt / Jürgen Ellenberger, BGB Commentary , 73rd edition, 2014, § 163 Rn. 3
- ↑ Angie Schneider, contract adjustment in the bipolar long-term obligation , 2016, p. 250
- ^ BGH, judgment of October 22, 2003, Az .: XII ZR 112/02 0 BGHZ 156, 328
