European Contract Law and the Creation of Norms (22-23 June 2018)

On 22–23 June Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Society of European Contract Law (SECOLA) organize a conference „European Contract Law and the Creation of Norms”. It brings together leading experts from academic institutions in Europe and beyond, in order to discuss various dimensions of sources of contemporary contract law. The conference will focus, in particular, on the novel ways of creating “regulatory content”, which emerge to a great extent without a direct involvement of a state legislation and pose a substantial challenge to the already existing conceptual and legal framework. The conference will be organized in the Maria Lubomirska-Radziwiłłowa Palace (Warsaw, ulica Długa 26). The registration details are available at the website: http://secola.org/eventfort.htm

Posted on 15/04/2018 by Mateusz Grochowski in Competition, Consumer Law, Contract Law, General Issues, International

Promissory note enforcement vs. an ex officio review of unfair terms (Profi Credit Polska: C-176/17)

On 17 February 2017, the District Court in Siemianowice Śląskie (the “Court”) referred to the CJEU a preliminary question (C-176/17), asking whether the provisions of Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts, especially Article 6(1) and Article 7(1), and the provisions of Directive 2008/48/EC of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC, especially Article 17(1) and Article 22(1), are to be interpreted as precluding the entrepreneur (the lender) from pursuing a claim against the consumer (the borrower), where the claim is acknowledged by a duly completed promissory note, by way of payment order proceedings specified in Article 485 § 2 and subsequent provisions of the Polish Civil Procedure Code, in relation to Article 41 of the Act on Consumer Credit of 12 May 2011, which limit the national court solely to examining the validity of the promissory note obligation with regard to the formal requirements of the promissory note, excluding examining the basic relation (the loan agreement).

Posted on 05/08/2017 by Krzysztof Riedl in Civil Procedure, Consumer Law, Contract Law, General Issues

A preliminary question from the Polish Supreme Court to the CJEU (case C-367/15)

The Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Poland referred its second preliminary question to the CJEU (following a previous one reported previously on Polish Private Law). This time it addressed issues of intellectual property protection, against the background of the 2004/48/EC directive of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights. The Court confronted this act with the domestic remedies in the case of copyright infringements, concluding that the possibility to award damages without ascertaining the real amount of loss, as set forth in the Polish regulation, is not compliant with the EU rules, excluding penal measures in these terms.

Posted on 29/09/2015 by Mateusz Grochowski in General Issues, IP Law

The seller’s claims regarding the defective nature of the thing sold – a new quality?

The Consumer Rights Directive (CRD) required businesses across the EU to comply with its requirements from 13 June 2014. EU Member States have takenvarious approaches to implementing the new legislation. The Polish Act on Consumer Rights, which transposes the CRD, came into force on 25 December2014. The newly introduced Article 576 (1) of the CC provides that, if the thing did not have the characteristics it should have had in accordance with its intended purpose or in accordance with assurances made in public, or has been issued in an incomplete condition, then the seller that incurred the costs as a result of the consumer exercising its rights under a warranty for physical defects, may request the redress of the damage suffered from one of the previous sellers, as a result of the actions or omissions of which the thing became defective.

Posted on 29/07/2015 by Aleksandra Kunkiel-Kryńska in Consumer Law

A preliminary question from the Polish Supreme Court to the CJEU (case C-70/15)

In its ruling of 27 November 2014 (case number: V CSK 487/13), the Supreme Court (Civil Chamber) asked a preliminary question to the CJEU. This is worth mentioning, as the decision in question is not only the first case of the Supreme Court revoking the preliminary procedure in civil matters, but also the first one in its jurisprudence at all. The question concerns two issues of the European civil procedure regulation.

Posted on 22/06/2015 by Mateusz Grochowski in Civil Procedure

Freedom of religion vs. airport security checks

The Court adjudicated the cassation claim of the claimant, challenging the judgment of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw rejecting the claim of the claimant – a Sikh – alleging the infringement of his personal rights. During the security check, he demanded to be able to take off his turban in a secluded place without the presence of other guards, but this was refused by the officials in charge. Upon this ground he asserted the encroachment of his freedom of conscience and religion – and hence, an infringement of Articles 23 and 24 of the Civil Code of Poland (specifying the concept of personal rights and remedies in the case of their violation).

Posted on 30/05/2015 by Joanna Buchalska in General Issues

Consumer Sales Guarantees in the EU by Aneta Wiewiorowska Domagalska – a Review

In 2012, Aneta Wiewiórowska-Domagalska’s book titled “Consumer Sales Guarantees in the European Union” was published by Sellier European Law Publishers. This fascinating book filled a neglected gap in European legal literature, as the problems of consumer sales guarantees have not been looked at in a way that is both in-depth and all-encompassing. The monograph contains a broad analysis of the legal phenomenon of guarantee: its roots, legal form, EU origins and the relation between the guarantee and other legal instruments of a similar function.

Posted on 27/09/2014 by Monika Jagielska in Consumer Law

Act on Consumer Rights Enacted

A few days ago, on 24 June 2014, the Act on Consumer Rights was finally published. The Act transposes the Consumer Rights Directive and re-transposes the Consumer Sales Directive to Polish law. The Act was adopted on 30 May 2014 and it will come into force six month after its publication, in December 2014.

The vast majority of rules of the Consumer Rights Directive have been transposed outside of the Civil Code (although, during the work on the transposition, there were voices suggesting its inclusion into the Civil Code). Only a few rules of a general contractual character are going to be included into the Civil Code.

Posted on 03/07/2014 by Aneta Wiewiórowska-Domagalska in Consumer Law

The 1987 Sino-Polish Treaty on Legal Assistance in Civil and Criminal Matters is Not Applicable to Judgments of Hong Kong

By an order made on 6 March 2012, the Court of Appeal dismissed the complaint of V. M., filed against the order of the Regional Court in W. declaring the judgment of a District Court of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong to be enforceable in Poland. An appeal in cassation was lodged with the Supreme Court against the former order by V. M.

The appeal was based on two major grounds: a violation of Article 16 of the 1987 Treaty between the People’s Republic of Poland and the People’s Republic of China on legal assistance in civil and criminal matters in conjunction with Articles 27 and 29 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and a violation of the relevant provisions of the Polish Code of Civil Procedure relating to the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. Read more

Posted on 18/05/2014 by Szymon Zaręba in International

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