Limitation: enforcement is not admissible if the claim is time-barred

A creditor cannot usefully enforce a claim that is already time-barred. The limitation periods for ordinary claims are in the Code of Obligations, often five or ten years depending on the claim. Service of enforcement interrupts limitation and starts it again. The certificate of loss then follows its own regime in the enforcement Act, distinct from the original limitation. Limitation is raised in the action on the merits or, where the statute allows, before the court asked to set opposition aside. The enforcement office does not calculate every period of its own motion. A debtor who stays silent lets enforcement proceed.