POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Rafał Waszkiewicz and Bartosz Pyzder, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
3.8 Requirements for Cost Estimate There is no requirement in Polish law that clients be provided with an estimate of the potential costs of litigation.
are obliged to send the copy of their pleadings directly to the attorney of the opposite party (with some exceptions, ie, an appeal, a complaint, a cassation appeal, the amendment to the claim). The court sends all the court papers to the parties via mail. However, if the party is repre- sented by a professional attorney, the court’s judgments, decisions or orders may be served electronically via the court internet portal (each attorney who represents the clients before Polish courts should have an account in that court por- tal). Moreover, in some types of proceedings, eg, in cases heard by the commercial registry court or in insolvency and restructuring proceedings the use of specific internet portals is compulsory both for the court and the parties (regardless of whether they are represented by a professional lawyer or not). 3.6 Failure to Respond In the absence of a statement of defence, the court may consider the undisputed facts to be admitted. The defendant’s position expressed later may not be taken into account by the court if it is deemed to be late. There are very limited possibilities for submitting letters and applica- tions. Moreover, if the defendant fails to file a statement of defence, the court may issue a default judgment in a closed session. 3.7 Representative or Collective Actions The Polish law permits group actions, but they are quite limited in scope and therefore rare in practice. The use of group proceedings in pecu- niary claims is only allowed if the amount of each group member’s claim has been harmonised by equalising the claims of the members of the group or sub-group. Group actions are based on the opt-in principle.
4. Pre-trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions
Polish law allows for several types of interim applications, including interim injunctions and evidence preservation. Following the grant of an injunction, the court may decide on meas- ures, such as encumbering real property, seiz- ing movable property, or establishing compul- sory administration of businesses. If the secured claim is non-pecuniary, the court may secure it in any manner appropriate, including suspending the effects of some legal action or prohibiting certain actions. 4.2 Early Judgment Applications Polish law does not provide for a form of “early judgment”; however, there are three types of judgments that may be issued before the court hears all the merits of the case: • the court may give a partial judgment when only part of the claim or some of the claims in the application are capable of being settled; • the court, finding the claim to be justified in principle, may give a preliminary judgment only on the merits (principle) of the case and continue the proceedings regarding determin- ing the amount of the claim; and • the court may also dismiss a claim as being manifestly unfounded in a closed session without serving the statement of claim on the defendant or hearing the submissions made with the claim.
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