Article 168 of Code of Civil Procedure

If the judge considers that not all of the applicant’s requests should be granted, or considers that the order should not be issued for any other reason, he shall refrain from issuing the order and shall fix a hearing for consideration of the action before the competent court. The applicant shall then summon the debtor to appear before the court at the designated hearing by a notice containing the particulars of the petition referred to in the preceding Article. Refusal to make the order provisionally enforceable shall not be considered a refusal of some of the requests within the meaning of this Article. Article 169 (2) The debtor shall be served personally at his original domicile or place of work with the petition and the payment order issued against him. He may be served with both by email or by any modern electronic means of communication capable of being retained and retrieved, as specified by a decision of the Minister of Justice. The petition and the payment order issued thereon shall be deemed never to have existed if they are not served on the debtor within six months from the date of issuance of the order. Article 170 (3) The debtor may lodge a grievance against the order within ten days from the date on which it is served on him. The grievance shall be lodged before the Summary Court or the Court of First Instance, as the case may be, and shall state its grounds, failing which it shall be void. In considering the grievance, the rules and procedures followed before the court of first instance shall be observed. (1) The first, second and third paragraphs were replaced pursuant to Decree-Law No. 71 of 2025. (2) Replaced pursuant to Decree-Law No. 71 of 2025. (3) Replaced pursuant to Decree-Law No. 71 of 2025. Law Index 639 Home Page Law of Procedure Decree-Law No. 1980/38/of the year promulgating the Civil and Commercial Procedure Law Acceptance of the grievance as to form shall entail examination of the formal and substantive conditions for obtaining the order and adjudication of the merits of the dispute, unless there is a defect affecting the petition and the order relating to a violation of the rules of jurisdiction. At the request of the grievant, the adjudication may be confined to deeming the payment order never to have existed, provided that another hearing is fixed to consider the merits. The payment order may not be appealed. The judgment issued on the grievance, where it is open to challenge, shall be appealed in accordance with the rules or procedures prescribed for appeals against judgments.