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CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURES AMENDED
Bank A applied to the court for a payment order against a debtor just before its claim would be time-barred. After issuing a payment order and confirming that the debtor did not object to the payment order within 20 days of receipt of the order, the court issued a confirmation certificate to Bank A. Believing that its rights were secured by the payment order, Bank A did not immediately enforce the payment order until several years later when Bank A located the assets of the debtor. However, the debtor argued that the payment order had never been duly served on it and thus should be invalid for lack of due process. Accepting the debtor's argument, the court revoked the confirmation certificate and notified Bank A of such revocation. Bank A filed a lawsuit against the debtor to claim the payment, but the debtor raised the time-bar defense.
The latest amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure, which took effect from 21 January 2009 provides the bank with a relief because it specifically seeks to address the issue of an invalidated confirmation certificate of payment order.
Under the amendment, if the court mistakenly issues a confirmation certificate and later revokes it within 5 years of issuance, it shall notify the creditor of the revocation (Article 515). If the creditor files a lawsuit within 20 days of receipt of the notification, the lawsuit will be deemed to have been filed on the date on which the creditor applied for the payment order so that there will be no time bar issue.
In the given example, even though the confirmation certificate is revoked, Bank A's claim against the debtor will not become time-barred if the bank files a lawsuit within 20 days of receipt of the revocation notice.