Legal Q&A · Litigation & Damages

Our company did not read a judgment in its electronic mailbox. Is it still treated as served?

Law as at 10 September 2026

Short answer

Generally yes. A legal entity's electronic mailbox is activated for service by law, and a judgment is served personally: service occurs when the delivery receipt is confirmed or, at the latest, when the 15-day collection period expires, even if nobody opened the message. The appeal period runs from service, after which the judgment becomes final. Later remedies are narrow and require proof of objective reasons, so monitoring the mailbox is cheaper than explaining afterwards.

The electronic mailbox on slovensko.sk is not an email inbox that can wait. The state creates it for a legal entity promptly after its formation and activates it for service by law, regardless of whether anyone logs in. Courts use it as the preferred service channel, as expressly stated in Section 105(1) of the Code of Civil Dispute Procedure. The service regime is governed by the e-Government Act.

Fifteen days, then deemed service

Depositing the message in the mailbox starts the collection period:

For the purposes of this Act, the collection period is the period during which a deposited official electronic message is regarded as not served. The collection period is 15 days from the day following the deposit of the official electronic message, unless separate legislation prescribes another period.

Section 32(2) of Act No. 305/2013 Coll. (unofficial English translation)

A judgment is served personally: its contents become available only after confirmation of the electronic delivery receipt. Failing to confirm it does not prevent the result; it merely delays it and costs you time:

An official electronic message, including all electronic documents, is deemed served […] at the time stated in the electronic delivery receipt or on expiry of the collection period without collection, whichever occurs first, even if the addressee did not learn of it […].

Section 32(5) of Act No. 305/2013 Coll. (unofficial English translation)

Service starts the 15-day appeal period (Section 362(1) of the Code of Civil Dispute Procedure). If that too expires unused, the judgment generally becomes final. A judgment ordering performance, however, generally becomes enforceable only when the period for performance expires unused. That period is usually three days from finality unless the court specifies a longer period (Section 232 of the Code). The operative part of the judgment and any special rules on enforceability must therefore be checked. The company often learns of the judgment only from an enforcement officer.

Holidays and lack of awareness do not stop deemed service

The Act expressly provides for service even where the addressee did not learn of the message. Deemed service therefore operates while the managing director is on holiday or sick leave, and even if the only person with access has left the company. Email notifications of new messages are merely an aid that must be configured; failure to receive them does not affect the running of deadlines.

What remedies remain once a message is ‘served’?

While the appeal period runs, the solution is an appeal. After it expires, an application remains available for the authority that handled the matter to declare electronic service ineffective under Section 33(1) of Act No. 305/2013 Coll.. It must be filed within 15 days of the date you became, or could have become, acquainted with the message’s contents. You must prove either that collection was objectively impossible for a reason that neither arose on the addressee’s side nor was caused by the addressee (Section 33(1)(a)), or that circumstances on the addressee’s side would have made collection disproportionately difficult and that it would be unfair to require the addressee to overcome those difficulties (Section 33(1)(b)). A forgotten identity card, lack of access or a holiday will generally not qualify. The company must organise mailbox access so that it works without depending on one particular person.

Prevention is cheaper than rescue

In practice, this means three things: enable notifications to several addresses, add another authorised person to the mailbox, and acknowledge deliveries regularly, rather than once a month. We explain how to grant access to an accountant or lawyer in access to a company’s electronic mailbox.

How we can help

If a deadline is already running following deemed service, time is against you: see court representation. For a served payment order, we prepare an opposition. We explain how it works in payment orders and opposition. Through our external legal department, we can monitor the client’s mailbox regularly so that an enforcement officer is not the first person to tell you about a judgment.

If an unacknowledged court delivery is currently waiting in your mailbox, contact us before the period expires.

This answer provides general information on the law as at 10 September 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.

More legal questions

All questions and answers
  1. We signed an agreement with an arbitration clause. Can the dispute still be brought before an ordinary court? In a business-to-business relationship, lack of jurisdiction must be raised promptly during the arbitration. If the tribunal makes a preliminary ruling confirming jurisdiction, an application to the court must be filed within 30 days after delivery of that ruling; an action to set aside the award generally has a 60-day period from delivery and is limited to statutory grounds. Enforcement review is narrower and does not replace a missed objection that the arbitration agreement is invalid or non-existent. An application to stop enforcement filed within 15 days after notice has suspensive effect, but it must rely on a permissible enforcement ground.
  2. I lent money, but the other party says it was a gift. Who has to prove what? You prove that the money actually passed from your assets to the other party; you do not have to prove the absence of a reason for them to keep it. Anyone claiming the payment was a gift must prove that the donor intended to give the money without consideration. If no gift or other legal basis is established, the payment is unjust enrichment and must be returned. Evidence of the parties' intentions therefore decides the dispute, which is why loans should be documented.
  3. The debtor paid only after we filed a claim. Can we withdraw it without losing our costs? Yes, if you explain the withdrawal properly and provide evidence of payment. Payment after filing means the defendant procedurally caused the discontinuance, and the court then awards costs to you. If you withdraw without explanation, you risk the court attributing procedural responsibility to you and awarding costs to the defendant. The contents of the submission are therefore decisive, rather than the act of withdrawal alone.
  4. Someone filed agreements transferring our properties with the land register, but we did not sign them. What should we do? Act immediately, before the district office decides on registration. Approval becomes final on the day it is issued, and the Act expressly excludes appeal, reopening and review outside appeal proceedings. While the proceedings remain pending, it is possible to secure their suspension and a notice in the register. After approval, the only remaining route is a court claim and litigation that can last years.

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Mgr. Patrik Tulinský, LL.M. Czech and Slovak attorney · SAK 300422 · ČAK 19654

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