POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska, Sabina Famirska, Grzegorz Materna and Dorota Podsiedzik-Malec, Hansberry Tomkiel
10. Other Remedies 10.1 Injunctions
11. Funding and Costs 11.1 Litigation Funding
Injunctive relief is available. A civil court may grant relief if a plaintiff has established the likelihood of the validity of its claim and its legal standing. As an expedited, non-formalised proceeding, it is assumed that prima facie evidence of the existence of a claim is not required, but the claim must be supported by source evidence. The procedure usually lasts from a few weeks to a few months. Other parties are not noti - fied until the issuance of the judicially granted relief. If a first instance civil court grants injunctive relief, the other party can appeal the ruling. If the party who has been awarded injunctive relief fails to file a full claim within a defined time or its claim is otherwise dismissed, the defendant ‒ within one year after the claim arises (collapse of the injunctive relief) ‒ is entitled to a claim for damages caused by the execution of the injunctive relief. 10.2 Alternative Dispute Resolution In civil proceedings, parties may resolve their dispute amicably either in court or otherwise. A party may attempt to settle a case amicably by filing a call for a settlement. In its call, a party presents a proposal for its conciliatory resolution. There is no obligation for the other party to agree to the proposed settlement nor for a court to accept the settlement proposal. Mediation is a voluntary, confidential method of dis - pute resolution in which the disputing parties ‒ with the help of an independent and neutral mediator ‒ them - selves come to an agreement. Pursuant to Article 6 of the Damage Act, if an injured party concludes a settlement with one of the infring - ers who is jointly and severally liable, the injured party may claim from the other infringers compensation for the damage minus the amount corresponding to the amount that the settling infringer would have been obligated to pay. To the extent that the injured party cannot obtain compensation from the other infringers, it may demand such compensation from the settling infringer, unless the settlement agreement provides otherwise.
Third-party financing is not regulated by Polish law. Such financing of litigation takes place in Poland to a limited extent and without specific regulations. 11.2 Costs A court decides on the costs in any decision con - cluding the case before each instance. As a rule, the losing party is obliged to reimburse the opponent – at the opponent’s request ‒ those costs required for the proper enforcement of its rights and/or defence (“trial costs”). Necessary trial costs for a party represented by an attorney include legal fees (but not more than the fee rates set by separate regulations) and the attorney’s expenses, as well as court costs, and the costs of the party’s appearance in person ordered by the court. If a party does not have an attorney, the necessary costs of litigation include the court costs paid by the party, the cost of travel to the court by that party, and the equivalent of the earnings lost by appearing in court. In addition, parties represented by an attorney are reimbursed the costs in an amount according to the legal provisions on attorney’s fees. Pursuant to the Polish Code of Civil Procedure, a judgment of a court of first instance can be appealed to a court of second instance. An appeal should be based on specific grounds that justify the modification or necessity of revoking the judgment under appeal. The appellate charges may concern violations of pro - cedural law, defective resolutions of factual issues, and improper resolutions of legal issues. In an appeal, new facts or evidence may be presented, but the party offering such new evidence should prove that: • the submission of such evidence was not possible during the proceedings before the court of first instance; or • the need to present the new evidence arose after the first-instance court’s ruling. 12. Appeals 12.1 Basis of Appeal
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