Default judgments after the amendment to the Civil Dispute Procedure Code: From Formalism to Greater Judicial Discretion?

One of the significant changes introduced by the amendment to the Civil Dispute Procedure Code (Act No. 148/2026 Coll.), effective as of 15 July 2026, concerns the rules governing default judgments. The legislature has abandoned the previous mandatory model of issuing default judgments and has instead conferred upon courts the discretion to assess the circumstances of each individual case.

A default judgment (also referred to as a judgment by default) is a specific procedural mechanism through which a court may, where the statutory requirements are satisfied, decide the case as a consequence of the procedural inactivity of one of the parties, without conducting the standard taking of evidence. As a rule, the factual basis of such a judgment consists of the facts alleged by the claimant. The purpose of this mechanism is to enhance the efficiency of civil proceedings and to prevent delays caused by the procedural inactivity of the parties. Given the significant procedural consequences associated with the issuance of a default judgment, however, the conditions governing its application have long been the subject of scholarly debate and judicial interpretation.

The Civil Dispute Procedure Code distinguishes between a default judgment against the defendant issued without a hearing pursuant to Section 273 of the Code and a default judgment against the defendant issued at a hearing pursuant to Section 274 (as well as a default judgment against the claimant issued at a hearing pursuant to Section 278). While Section 273 has always been framed as conferring a discretionary power upon the court, the wording of Section 274, prior to the amendment, provided that "the court shall decide." Consequently, both legal scholarship and judicial practice have long debated the extent to which a court was obliged to render a default judgment once the statutory requirements were fulfilled, or whether it could also take into account the particular circumstances of the individual case.

This article examines the changes introduced by the amendment to the Civil Dispute Procedure Code with respect to default judgments. It also analyses selected case law decided prior to the adoption of the amendment, which may continue to play an important role in the interpretation and application of the new legal framework.