POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Rafał Waszkiewicz and Bartosz Pyzder, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
5. Discovery 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases
A third party may also join the proceedings by raising a claim against all the existing parties to the proceed- ings (main intervention), but this happens very rarely in practice. At the request of one of the parties, the court may summon the person named in the request to partici- pate in the case as a defendant or provide notice to a third party on the possibility of participation in the case as a claimant. 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs A defendant cannot generally seek an order that the claimant pay a sum of money as a security for the defendant’s costs. However, where the claimant is based outside of the EU, the defendant may request that the claimant deposits an amount to secure the costs of the litigation. Such request may be filed in the statement of defence before the discussion on the merits of the case. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/Motions The court fees for interim applications differ and depend on the type and subject of a motion. The court deals with the costs of interim applications in the judgment closing the main proceedings. As a rule, an unsuccessful party in the main proceedings is encumbered also with the costs of interim applica- tions together with the attorneys’ fees. However, if the claimant does not initiate main proceedings, the court may decide on the costs of interim applications in the interim proceedings. 4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe In principle, the court is not bound by any time limits to hear an interim application. An instructive dead- line of seven days applies to an interim injunction, but failure to comply with the deadline does not result in negative consequences for the court. There are limited possibilities to expedite the court’s consideration of the application for an interim injunction or any other motion.
There are no pre-trial discovery procedures in Poland of the form known in some other jurisdictions. Howev- er, Polish law provides two types of procedure similar to discovery, as set out below: • A party may request that the court orders the opposite party, a third party or some administrative bodies to provide documents that are in their pos- session. If the opposite party fails to provide docu- ments despite an order to do so, the court should assess the significance of such obstruction; eg, the court may find the facts given by the requesting party proven. If a third party fails to provide docu- ments, the court may impose a fine. All parties have access to the documents provided as a result of this procedure. • In proceedings regarding damages caused by a breach of competition law and in proceedings regarding intellectual property, there is a discovery procedure more similar to that known in com- mon law. The party that requests that the court orders an opposite party or a third party to provide evidence must give an assurance that they will not disclose the evidence and will not use it for any other purpose than the proceedings in which the evidence is disclosed. The court may impose a fine on all parties that refuse to disclose evidence (even on the opposite party). The opposite party may not refuse to disclose evidence if the only reason to do so is the danger of losing the case. The court’s decision on discovery is subject to complaint to the court of the second instance. These discovery procedures apply not only to documents but also to other types of evidence. 5.2 Discovery and Third Parties It is possible to obtain limited discovery from a third party not named as a claimant or defendant. As a general rule, everyone is obliged to produce, if the court so orders, a document in their possession. See 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases . 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction The court may order a party or a third party to provide a document if it considers that the document is evi-
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