POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Justyna Kucia, Katarzyna Paczuska-Tokarska, Barnaba Skibniewski and Anna Tujakowska, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
that the arbitral tribunal may take evidence from wit - nesses, expert opinions, documents and inspections, as well as any other evidence as necessary. The only restriction under the law is the prohibition of the arbitral tribunal using coercive measures. The generally applicable law also does not provide for preclusion of evidence in arbitration proceedings, leaving this issue to the discretion of the parties. It is common practice in Polish arbitral institutions, as well as for Polish ad-hoc arbitral tribunals, to apply the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence. 8.3 Powers of Compulsion Under the CPC, an arbitral tribunal may take any evi - dence it deems necessary; however, the arbitral tri - bunal does not have the power of compulsion and cannot take any coercive measures. The arbitral tribunal may request the assistance of a state court to take evidence or perform any other act that the arbitral tribunal cannot perform. Polish law does not explicitly regulate the confidential - ity of arbitration. Nevertheless, it is sometimes argued that confidentiality is an inherent feature of arbitra - tion, so arbitration is confidential by nature. To avoid any doubts, the parties may explicitly establish the confidentiality of the proceedings in the arbitration agreement. The rules of procedure before the largest permanent arbitration courts in Poland also provide for confidentiality. State court proceedings related to arbitration are not confidential, and the hearings are open to the public. 9. Confidentiality 9.1 Extent of Confidentiality
or more arbitrators, the signatures of the majority of the arbitrators are sufficient). As for the content of the award, the law stipulates that it must include the reasons for the decision, identify the parties and arbitrators and make reference to the arbitration agreement, as well as the date and place of issue of the award. The award does not require publication; however, it must be delivered to all parties. The generally appli - cable law does not regulate the method of delivery, which can be specified by the parties or by the arbitral tribunal. If the arbitral tribunal consists of more than one arbi - trator, its awards shall be made by majority vote unless otherwise agreed by the parties. An arbitrator who voted against the majority position may submit a dissenting opinion, which should be backed up by written reasoning. 10.2 Types of Remedies There are no explicitly established restrictions on the types of remedies that an arbitral tribunal may award. However, it should be noted that during the proceed - ing to set aside an award, the court examines whether the award is pursuant to the fundamental principles of the legal order of the Republic of Poland. It is therefore possible that some types of remedies ‒ for example, US-style punitive damages ‒ could be challenged on these grounds. 10.3 Recovering Interest and Legal Costs Polish law does not separately regulate the recover - ability of interest in arbitration proceedings. Under Polish law, the recoverability of interest – whether in litigation before common courts or in arbitration – is a matter of substantive law governing the parties’ rela - tionship. If the law applicable to the legal relationship giving rise to the dispute referred to arbitration is Polish law, the interest is recoverable. Interest should be ordered on the awarded monetary claim from the date on which the claim became due. The rate of interest is regulated either in an agreement of the parties (the parties can - not agree on an interest rate higher than the maximum
10. The Award 10.1 Legal Requirements
The CPC stipulates that an arbitral award should be in writing and signed by the arbitrators (if issued by three
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