POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Rafał Waszkiewicz and Bartosz Pyzder, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
of payment to the same court relatively easily. This results in the initiation of regular proceedings. 9.2 Rules Regarding Damages Damages serve a compensatory purpose. Their amount is determined by different methods. A com- parison is made between the condition of the assets after the event causing the damage and the condition of the assets without the event. Punitive damages cannot be awarded. An exception exists in copyright proceedings. Right holders whose economic rights have been infringed are entitled to recover damages equal to twice the amount of the relevant remuneration. In cases of personal injury and of infringement of per- sonal rights, the injured party may be entitled to com- pensation in the form of a payment or an order to pay a specified sum of money to the non-governmental organisation. The amount of compensation in such cases is established based on the principles of equity. Polish courts seem to be rather conservative when it comes to the amount of compensation. 9.3 Pre-Judgment and Post-Judgment Interest A party may successfully claim interest from the time when payment became due. This means that the party may claim for the interest that had accrued before the statement of claim was filed. Moreover, the claimant is entitled to capitalise the interest accrued until the date of the statement of claim. If a Polish court issues a judgment awarding mon- ey, it generally awards a specific amount of money “together with the interest calculated from the specific date to the date of payment”. As a result, the creditor does not have to file a new statement of claim for the interest accrued after the judgment has been entered. It should be noted that if the bailiff enforces the judg- ment, the interest is enforced in the actual amount as well. In the event that the rate of interest for delay was not specified in the contract, statutory interest is accrued for the delay in an amount equal to the sum of the
reference rate of the National Bank of Poland (NBP) and 5.5 percentage points. Interest for late payment in commercial transactions is due in certain categories of business case. The interest for late payment in commercial transactions is higher than ordinary statutory interest and equal to the sum of the NBP reference rate and 10 percentage points. 9.4 Enforcement Mechanisms of a Domestic Judgment Pursuing enforcement based on a judgment requires an application and an enforceability clause. This is granted within a few days in closed session. Judg- ments are enforced by bailiffs, who are state officers. 9.5 Enforcement of a Judgment From a Foreign Country Judgments rendered in the EU are recognised auto- matically without the need for any proceedings. In the case of a judgment rendered outside the EU, the extension of its effectiveness to Poland is provided by its recognition or the declaration of its enforceability. In both cases, it is necessary to apply for an enforce- ability clause to carry out enforcement proceedings. Judgments of the court of first instance may be appealed. Other decisions of the court of first instance may be challenged with a complaint in cases speci- fied by law. An appeal is heard by the court of second instance. A complaint is heard by the court of first or second instance, depending on the matter to which the decision being challenged relates. Poland has a full appeals system. This means that the court of second instance decides the case; it does not merely review the first-instance judgment. A final decision may be appealed in a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court in cases specified by law. 10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation
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