POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Szymon Gogulski, Marek Oleksyn and Damian Ludwiniak, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak Jasna 26 Street 00-054 Warsaw Poland
Tel: +48 22 608 70 00 Fax: +48 22 608 70 01 Email: office@skslegal.pl Web: www.skslegal.pl
1. Legal Framework and Regulatory Bodies 1.1 Primary Laws and Regulation Advertising practices in Poland are regulated by laws of a general, cross-sectoral nature, as well as by laws
• radio and television – the Broadcasting Law of 29 December 1992. 1.2 Enforcement and Regulatory Authorities The following civil and administrative authorities are charged with enforcing the laws and regulations gov - erning advertising practices. Common Courts Competent for Civil Claims Common courts in Poland examine disputes between businesses (B2B) under the UCL, and between con - sumers and businesses (B2C) under the UMPL. The remedies available in common courts for both types of proceedings are broad and include the following. • Under both the UCL and the UMPL: (a) cessation of the unfair advertising practice; (b) removal of effects of such practices; (c) making of a single statement or a series of statements (typically, press statements with content determined by court); (d) redress of damage caused in accordance with general rules; and (e) awarding an appropriate sum of money for a specific social purpose. • Under the UCL: (a) recovery of unduly obtained benefits; and (b) deciding on products, their packaging, ad - vertising materials and other objects directly related to unfair competition, including their destruction or crediting towards damages. • Under the UMPL: (a) reduction of price; and (b) cancellation of a contract with mutual reim - bursements by the parties.
governing specific market sectors. The primary legislation includes:
• the Law on Counteracting Unfair Competition of 16 April 1993 (the UCL), which transposes Directive 2006/114/EC of 12 December 2006 concerning misleading and comparative advertising, among others, and regulates fair advertising in B2B rela - tions; and • the Law on Counteracting Unfair Marketing Prac - tices of 23 September 2007 (the UMPL), which transposes Directive 2005/29/EC of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commer - cial practices in the internal market, and governs fair commercial practices (including advertising) in B2C relations. Secondary legislation pertains to advertising practices in numerous specific market sectors, such as: • tobacco products – the law of 9 November 1995 on health protection against the effects of tobacco and tobacco products; • alcohol beverages – the law of 26 October 1982 on bringing up children in an environment of sobriety and counteracting alcoholism; • medicinal products – the Pharmaceutical Law of 6 September 2001; and
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