When does the deadline against the nakaz zapłaty end?
The most common mistake: people go by the date printed on the nakaz zapłaty (payment order). What matters, however, is the day it was served on you.
The deadline starts on the day of service, not on the date printed on the order. The day of service is on the potwierdzenie odbioru (delivery slip), not on the order itself.
Two weeks or one month
- Sprzeciw (postępowanie upominawcze and EPU): two weeks from service in Poland.
- Zarzuty (postępowanie nakazowe): one month from service in the EU, including Poland.
If the order was served outside Poland, other periods may apply; the period that applies is always printed in the order. We work out the deadline only for service in Poland.
How to count
Court deadlines are counted under the Civil Code (art. 165 § 1 KPC). A period in weeks ends on the same weekday as the day of service; a period in months ends on the same date one month later, and if that month has no such date, on its last day (art. 112 KC). Weekends and holidays within the period count like any other day. If the last day falls on a Saturday or a statutory day off, the deadline moves to the next day that is neither (art. 115 KC).
Statutory days off in Poland
All Sundays, and 1 January, 6 January, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, 1 May, 3 May, Pentecost Sunday (Zielone Świątki), Corpus Christi (Boże Ciało), 15 August, 1 November, 11 November, 24 December, 25 and 26 December. 24 December has been a day off since 2025, and many calendars do not show it yet. A holiday that falls on a Sunday gives no extra day.
Examples
- Sprzeciw, served on Wednesday 4 March 2026: the last day is Wednesday 18 March 2026.
- Sprzeciw, served on Thursday 21 May 2026: two weeks later is Thursday 4 June 2026, Corpus Christi, a day off. The last day is Friday 5 June 2026.
- Zarzuty, served on Thursday 21 May 2026: one month later is Sunday 21 June 2026. The last day is Monday 22 June 2026; the court fee must also be paid by then.
- Zarzuty, served on 31 January: February has no 31st, so the period ends on the last day of February, moved to the next working day if that is a Saturday or a day off.
Posting on the last day is enough
Handing the letter in at a Poczta Polska post office (or at the universal postal service in another EU country) on the last day counts as filing with the court (art. 165 § 2 KPC). Keep the receipt: it is your proof. If you file electronically in the EPU, the time in the electronic confirmation counts (art. 165 § 4 KPC). There are no court holidays: the period does not stop in summer.
Which day is the day of service
- You signed for the letter: the date on the potwierdzenie odbioru.
- An adult member of your household accepted it: that day.
- You collected it later from the post office: the day you collected it.
- Ordinary reminder procedure, served by a komornik (bailiff): the day of that service.
- EPU, letter not collected: the order counts as served at your address in the PESEL register. The day the court took as the day of service is shown in the case file on e-sad.gov.pl. You enter that day; we do not work it out ourselves.
Has the deadline already passed?
After the deadline the order has the effect of a final judgment (art. 480² § 4 KPC). What remains is an application to restore the deadline (wniosek o przywrócenie terminu, art. 168-169 KPC), if you missed it through no fault of your own: within one week after the reason for the delay ceased, filed together with the sprzeciw or the zarzuty themselves. A typical case is an EPU order "served" at a PESEL address where you no longer live. After one year it is possible only in exceptional cases. We do not prepare this application and recommend consulting a lawyer.
How Catius Documents works out the deadline
You tell us the day and the way of service, we work out the deadline and show it to you before you pay anything.