POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Rafał Waszkiewicz and Bartosz Pyzder, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
dence of a fact essential to the outcome of the case. Everyone is obliged to provide, if the court so orders, a document in their possession. However, Polish law does not provide any examples of the documents that must be disclosed and it is at the discretion of the court to make this decision. When the court deems it necessary to review the origi- nal of an official copy of a document, it may order that it is delivered to the hearing or reviewed on the spot by the designated judge or by the whole court. 5.4 Alternatives to Discovery Mechanisms The burden of proving a fact lies with the person who derives legal consequences from that fact. The par- ties provide evidence to support their claims. Only if a party does not possess a document supporting its claim may it request that the court orders another person to provide the evidence. See 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases . If a document is held in administrative files, a party can request that the court summons the administra- tive body to provide the document or a certified copy of it. 5.5 Legal Privilege Professional privilege covers the right to refuse to answer a question as a witness. However, a person ordered to provide a document may object to doing so if such person is entitled to refuse to testify as a wit- ness regarding the facts covered by such document or if such person holds such document on behalf of a third party that could refuse to testify for the same reasons. Professional privilege applies only to licensed attor- neys-at-law, legal counsel, patent attorneys and tax advisers. 5.6 Rules Disallowing Disclosure of a Document The holder of a document may be discharged from the obligation to provide it: • when the document contains classified information subject to protection; or
• when they could, as a witness, refuse to testify as to the circumstances covered by the document. However, providing a document may not be refused where the holder of the document or a third party is under an obligation to provide it in respect of at least one of the parties, or where the document is issued in the interest of a party that demands the taking of evidence. 6. Injunctive Relief 6.1 Circumstances of Injunctive Relief Injunctive relief may be claimed by any party or par- ticipant in the proceedings if the party or participant substantiates: • the claim to be secured; and • a legal interest in granting security. The legal interest in granting injunctive relief exists when the lack of security will prevent or seriously impede the enforcement of the decision made in the case or will otherwise prevent or seriously impede the achievement of the purpose of the proceedings in the case. The same grounds apply to pecuniary and non-pecu- niary claims. The choice of the type of injunction is made by the court taking into account the purpose of those proceedings. An interim injunction is allowed in most cases; howev- er, it is not allowed to secure pecuniary claims against the state treasury. In disputes concerning intellectual property rights, the court is obliged to reject an application for an interim injunction if it is filed more than six months after the party became aware of the infringement of its exclu- sive right. 6.2 Arrangements for Obtaining Urgent Injunctive Relief The courts are bound by a seven-day period to con- sider an application for an interim injunction. However, this is merely an instructive deadline, and failure to
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