POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Rafał Waszkiewicz and Bartosz Pyzder, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments Two-instance proceedings is a constitutional principle. Therefore, judgments of the courts of first instance may be appealed without any additional authorisation. There are only statutory requirements to be met, namely: • a party must request that the court prepares a writ- ten justification of the judgment – a request must be filed within one week of issuance of the judg- ment; • the appeal must be filed within the statutory deadline, ie, two weeks counting from the date of service of the judgment with the written justifica- tion (in some complex cases, the deadline is three weeks); and • the party must pay a court fee. An appeal is a formal pleading that must meet statuto- ry requirements as to content. It is heard by the court of second instance. Procedural decisions can be challenged with a com- plaint in cases specified by law. The requirements that must be met to file a complaint are as follows: • In most cases, a party must request that the court prepares a written justification of the decision. • The complaint must be filed within one week counting from the date of service of the decision with the written justification. • The party must pay a court fee, which is less than the court fee for an appeal. Whether a complaint is heard by the court of sec- ond instance or by another judge in the court of first instance depends on the matter to which the decision being challenged relates. 10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal Appeals must be filed with the court that issued the contested judgment within two weeks of service of the reasoned judgment on the applicant. The time limit for an appeal is three weeks if the deadline for preparing the written reasons for the judgment is extended. The deadline for a complaint is one week and cannot be extended.
10.4 Issues Considered by the Appeal Court at an Appeal In Poland, there is a model of “full appeal”. The court of second instance hears the case; it does not only review the first-instance judgment. As a general rule, the court of appeal should call a hearing but, in some cases, the appeal may be heard in camera. Generally, the parties are not allowed to present new facts or evidence during the proceedings before the court of second instance. However, the court may admit new facts and evidence if a party could not have invoked them in the proceedings before the court of first instance or if the need to invoke them arose later. The court of second instance can also admit evidence ex officio. 10.5 Court-Imposed Conditions on Granting an Appeal The court cannot impose any conditions on granting an appeal. 10.6 Powers of the Appellate Court After an Appeal Hearing The court of second instance may: • dismiss the appeal; • modify the judgment and rule on the merits; • overturn the contested judgment and refer the case back for further examination; or • overturn the contested judgment and discontinue the proceedings if the statement of claim is reject- ed (eg, because of the lack of jurisdiction of Polish courts) or if the claimant withdraws the statement of claim. In the judgment, the court of appeal should present its view on the case; in particular, it should make its own assessment of the evidence (if, in the appeal, the party alleged the wrongful assertion of evidence or a mistake in establishing the facts). The court of appeal is obliged to make a legal assessment of the case, which may result in a change of the contested judgment if the legal assessment differs from the one made by the court of first instance.
946 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook