Prescription for initiating legal action requesting to declare the deposit invalid and to return the deposited property

Abstract

Deposit is a security measure for the purpose of entering into or performance of a contract. However, when the purposes are not achieved due to different reasons, disputes regarding the request to declare the deposit invalid and to return the deposited property may arise. When resolving these disputes, there are opposing points of view between judicial practice and legal science. Some people believe that these requirements are contractual disputes, so prescription for initiating legal action should be applied, while the others consider it is necessary to categorize the request to return the deposited property as a type of property ownership disputes, so there shall be no application of prescription for initiating legal action. In order to clarify the issue of appling prescription for initiating legal action  requesting to declare the deposit invalid and to return the deposited property, this paper analyzes the related law and its practical application. On that basis, it also suggests some  proposals to improve the law on this issue.