1. The provision of Article 417 CC regulates the liability of the State Treasury and local government units for damage caused by an unlawful action or omission while exercising public authority. It constitutes a general basis for the liability of public authorities for their acts of authority in their sovereign capacity which does not apply only in situations where the legislator by way of another specific provision regulates consequences of certain acts of public authorities in their sovereign capacity.
2. In the case of any damage caused by public authorities or local government units outside of the scope of sovereign capacity, they are not liable under Article 417 CC, but on the general civil law principles (Articles 416, 433-436 CC).
3. The provisions of the Act on Crisis Management emergency containing the standards of behaviours expected of the public authority bodies are general in nature, especially as regards point 1 item 2 of Articles 17 and 19 of the Act.

The Regional Court in Warsaw 1^st Civil Division in the following ruling bench:

Rafał Wagner, Regional Court Judge

Andrzej Kuryłek, Regional Court Judge

Jacek Bajak, Regional Court Judge

having examined on 2^nd August 2016 in Warsaw at the hearing in camera the case filed by the Municipal  Consumer Ombudsman in O. against Bank (…) S.A. with its registered office in W. for the establishment of the defendant’s liability

decides to:

publish an announcement in the ‘(…)’ daily newspaper on commencement of the group proceedings with the following content

The Regional Court in Warsaw having examined the case of A.R against Związek (…) in W. for payment,

hereby decides:

1. to publish the following announcement in (…) and in (…)

1. The institution of the security for costs of the case in the class action is of a non-compulsory nature and its application depends on the Court’s assessments of the circumstances of the specific case.
2. The issue of the need to secure the defendant’s interests that are endangered because of the groundless complaints through obliging the plaintiff to submit a deposit for securing the cost of the case at the initial stage of the case shall not lead to creating additional financial obstacles in the execution of the right to a fair trial. This is particularly so when the conduct of the plaintiff does not make avoiding the reimbursement of costs plausible, and his financial standing does not create a danger of the impossibility of obtaining the fulfilment.

The Regional Court in Warsaw – the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection with the following ruling bench:

Presiding Judge:            Jolanta de Heij-Kaplińska, Regional Court Judge

having examined on 24^th May 2016 in Warsaw at the hearing in camera the case to the appeal of (…) Bank S.A. with its registered office in W. against the President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection for the ascertainment of acts violating collective consumer interests,

following the appeal of the President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection of 31^st December 2013, no. (…),

The decision was changed by the decision of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw 1st Civil Division of 28th September 2016, I ACz 1663/16, in such a way that it was established that the group was composed of two additional members, and the lawsuit was refused to reject as to the one person’s claim.

1. The assessment of the claim formulated by the group, the content of the declaration on joining the group, and the date on which it was filed is of significance for the assessment of membership in a group.
2. Not joining the group within a set time limit excludes the possibility of taking part in a class action. The intent to join the group is communicated to the group representative. Exceeding the time limit for submitting a declaration on joining the group results in the ineffectiveness of the submitted declaration. According to the Court, situations in which only the date entered on the declaration by the person raising access to the group would be decisive are unacceptable.
3. In evaluating the date of submitting the declaration to the group representative, the principle from Article 165 (2) CCP which pertains to rendering the effectiveness of submitting the letter on the date of its mailing at the operator’s outlet may not apply. A declaration on joining the group is not a procedural letter in the meaning of Article 125 CCP, since it is not a letter addressed by a party to the proceedings to court or the opposing party.

1. The possibility of engaging in business activity by a Polish sports association is not excluded, provided that the income shall be used to realise the statutory goals and shall not be divided among members of the association.

1. Evidence from testimony of the parties, provided for in Article 20 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings applies only to group members, for they are the people, who are have the right of action arising from substantive law. A group representative is not questioned on the grounds that s/he has passive right of action.

The decision was reversed by the decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw of 15^th September 2016, file ref. no. XXIV C 500/14.

The Regional Court in Warsaw 24^th Civil Division in the following ruling bench:

Monika Dominiak, Regional Court Judge

Barbara Budzianowska, Regional Court Judge

Urszula Idzikowska, Regional Court Judge

having examined on 9^th June 2016 in Warsaw at the hearing in camera in the case filed by the Municipal Consumer Ombudsman in S. – the group representative against (…) S.A. with its registered office in W. for the establishment of the defendant’s liability

1. The court may obligate a claimant to make a deposit to secure the costs of the litigation. However it does not mean that the defendant’s raising of this request is the only condition for obligating the Claimant to submit a deposit to secure the costs of the litigation. The Claimant’s obligation to submit the deposit at the request of the Defendant is not mandatory, but is left at the discretion of the ruling bench.