Court litigation in Poland – Litigation overview

Disputes between entrepreneurs are settled under Polish law in the form of proceedings which materially differ from ordinary civil law court cases. The key rule of commercial proceedings is included in Article 479(12) § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

According to the abovementioned provision the claimant is obliged to specify, in its statement of claim, any and all claims and supporting evidence, otherwise it may be deprived of the right to refer to such claims and evidence during the proceedings unless it proves that their specification in the statement of claim was not possible or that a need to refer to certain claims and evidence arose at a later stage, i.e., after filing the statement of claim. The claimant should attach a copy of a complaint or a request of voluntary performance, and a statement on the stance of the defendant in the case, as well as information or copies of letters certifying the attempts to settle disputable aspects through negotiations.

By analogy, in its reply to the statement of claim, the defendant is obliged to specify any and all claims, allegations and the supporting evidence, otherwise it may be deprived of the right to refer to such claims and evidence during the proceedings unless it proves that their specification in the reply to the statement of claim was not possible or that a need to refer to certain claims and evidence arose at a later stage.

Due to the above and due to other specific regulations concerning civil law cases, effective conduct of proceedings in Poland without co-operation with an entity professionally involved in providing advisory services on Polish law seems to be impossible.

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