POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Rafał Waszkiewicz and Bartosz Pyzder, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
sional judges (jurors) elected by a local council for a limited period. The participation of jurors is limited. They are obligatory in certain cases, mainly concerning family law and labour law, but only in the first instance. 7.4 Rules That Govern Admission of Evidence The general rule is to present claims and evi- dence in the statement of claim and the state- ment of defence. The subsequent presentation of evidence is admissible with the permission of the court. In the second instance, new evidence may be introduced only in exceptional circumstances when the party was unable to rely on it in the proceedings before the court of first instance. Stricter preclusion of evidence occurs in com- mercial proceedings. In both the claimant’s statement of claim and the defendant’s state- ment of defence, the claims and evidence must be referenced. If a possibility or a need to refer to evidence arose late, the evidence should be referred to within 14 days; however, the court may decide to issue another or an additional deadline. Further, the court should disregard evidence that is not necessary to prove the facts relevant to the case or that is motioned for the sole purpose of extending the proceedings. 7.5 Expert Testimony The court may admit the evidence of an expert witness opinion at the request of the parties or, exceptionally, ex officio. The court should do so if specialist information is required.
The expert witness is appointed by the court. The parties are entitled to suggest candidates to become an expert witness but these sugges- tions are not binding on the court. The parties are not allowed to provide a private expert’s opinion. Such opinion is considered to be the party’s position only. The expert witness prepares the opinion in writ- ing. The parties are allowed to comment on the opinion and ask additional questions. If this is the case, the expert witness prepares an addi- tional opinion in writing and may be heard orally at the hearing. It is also possible to examine the expert witness remotely, but the parties have a right to oppose the remote examination. The evidence of an expert witness opinion is sub- ject to the court’s evaluation as other evidence. However, in practice, this evidence is of great importance. 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public The openness of hearings is a constitutional principle. Trial decisions of minor importance may be made in a closed session. The openness of the trial may be excluded ex officio or for other reasons, eg, when the public hearing of the case threatens public order. The parties may request that the hearing is conducted in camera if the commercial secrecy of the parties may be dis- closed. Only persons of legal age have access to public hearings. 7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge The judge leads the hearing. They are the first to question the witnesses and experts and may ask questions out of turn. They may also over- rule a question from an attorney or a party and may take the floor when they consider that the question or statement is abusive.
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