POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Szymon Gogulski, Marek Oleksyn and Damian Ludwiniak, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
who did not participate in the first instance proceed - ings. 1.8 Private Right of Action for Consumers Private Right of Action Under the UMPL A private right of action is available to consumers in Poland to challenge advertising practices in common court proceedings, which can be initiated under the UMPL. Remedies available for consumers before the common courts include: • cessation of the unfair advertising practice; • the removal of the effects of such practice; • the making of a single statement or a series of statements (typically, press statements with con - tent decided by the court); • redress of damage caused in accordance with general rules; • awarding an appropriate sum of money for a spe - cific social purpose; • a decrease in price; or • cancellation of a contract, with mutual reimburse - ments by the parties. Transposition of Directive 2020/1828 On 29 August 2024, Poland transposed Directive 2020/1828 of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers and repealed Directive 2009/22/EC. This enabled representative actions to be brought in Poland against traders’ infringements of the provi - sions of Union law referred to in Annex I of Directive 2020/1828, which sets out a broad list of EU Regu - lations and Directives, including Directive 2005/29/ EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer com - mercial practices in the internal market and Directive 2006/114/EC concerning misleading and comparative advertising. 1.9 Regulatory and Legal Trends One of the trends in the Polish advertising landscape in the past 12 months has been a growing focus on greenwashing and advertising with pseudo-ecological messages. Directive 2024/825 of 28 February 2024 amending Directives 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU regarding the empowerment of consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair practices and improved information has already
led to the greenwashing phenomenon being closely examined in Poland by the President of the OCCP. 1.10 Taste and Cultural Concerns A broad range of tastes and cultural aspects may influ - ence the assessment of compliance with relevant laws in Poland. The UCL provides general and captious wording in this respect, prohibiting any advertising that offends human dignity or appeals to consumers’ emotions by causing fear or drawing on superstitions. The correct understanding and application of these limitations was left to case law and doctrine. In its judgment dated 14 December 2005 (Case No VI Aca 616/05), the Court of Appeal in Warsaw held that restrictions on advertising may be put in place to pro - tect the rights of others or the specifics of a trade or profession. Advertising should respect the dignity of the human person. Advertising should be prohibited if it: • shows violence or racial hatred; • contains content that discriminates on the basis of race, gender or nationality; • is offensive to religious beliefs; or • encourages conduct that harms the environment. In another ruling issued on 20 August 2014 (Case No VI Aca 1740/13), the Court of Appeal in Warsaw emphasised that media communications should respect human dignity in both content and presenta - tion. The prohibition on promoting discriminatory con - tent applies to the portrayal of unequal treatment in a manner that is likely to increase or perpetuate such behaviour and discriminatory stereotypes. Broadcasts that violate human dignity or contain discriminatory content shall be qualified as contrary to law, morality and the public good. In turn, doctrine and practitioners outline that the reg - ulations governing fair advertising (such as the UCL) should not aim to prohibit or prevent customers from expressing distaste. 1.11 Politics, Regulation and Enforcement For a number of years now, fair advertising and communications aimed at consumers have become the subject of increasing and closer scrutiny by the
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