채무 중 일부에 대한 임의변제에 따른 변제의 충당에 있어서 소멸시효기간이 완성된 채권의 법적 지위 - 대법원 2013. 5. 23. 선고 2013다12464 판결 -

Abstract

This article is a critical review of a Supreme Court case. The Supreme Court of Korea has rendered a judgment in 2013(2013. 5. 23. 2013da12464) on the legal effects of voluntary partial payment, a process which is done after the extinctive prescription period of a debt is completed. In this case the defendant, the debtor, wired some amount of money to the plaintiff, the creditor, which was not enough to pay off all the debt. At the time of wiring, 3 years of extinctive prescription period of a part of the debt, the interest, had been completed already while 5 years of extinctive prescription period of the other part of the debt, the principal, had not been completed. The court ruled that the defendant was regarded as paying off the interest, not the principal, knowingly waiving the debtor’s right to the completion of the extinctive prescription. The author doubts that the defendant had acted against his/her own right but suggests that the intent of the defendant could more likely be to pay off a part of the remaining principal rather than the interest which had become extinct already. In this regards the author extensively reviews some related cases and theories of Korean extinctive prescription law and settlement law.