Agnieszka Trzaska-Śmieszek
Magdalena OsmędaThe Act amending the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings (Sejm prints no. 148 and 153) has been adopted! On July 24, 2024, the Act was passed by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, and the very next day (July 25, 2024), it was approved without amendments by the Senate. Once the Act is signed by the President of the Republic of Poland and published, the new provisions will enter into force.
The legislative procedure concerning the draft act implementing the so-called Representative Actions Directive (i.e., Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers and repealing Directive 2009/22/EC) progressed through Parliament – one might say – at lightning speed, following lengthy work on the draft itself before it was submitted to the Polish Sejm.
On July 24, 2024, the second and third readings of the draft act took place, along with the vote on the draft in the Sejm.
On July 25, 2024, the Senate adopted the draft act without amendments, following its referral to the Senate Committee on National Economy and Innovation, which recommended in its report that the Senate adopt the draft without changes (Senate documents: 127, 127 A).
Neither the Sejm nor the Senate introduced any substantive amendments during the parliamentary proceedings to the government’s draft act, which was prepared by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice.
It is worth emphasizing that the draft act was adopted across political divides.
The draft bill received strong support from members of both the ruling coalition and opposition parties – 441 members of the Sejm voted in favor of adopting the draft in its entirety, as set out in print no. 539 (i.e., as amended by the Committee on Economy and Development and the Committee on Justice and Human Rights), 18 members abstained, and none voted against. In the Senate, all senators present voted in favor of the bill without amendments (87 votes in favor, 0 against, 0 abstentions).
The act will soon become a part of our legal reality.
Although the new provisions will enter into force with more than a year’s delay compared to the implementation deadline for the so-called Representative Actions Directive, it is reassuring that the new regulations underwent extensive public consultation, were refined, and were adopted with full political consensus. Soon we will see whether the new subtype of class action will prove effective in practice and meet expectations regarding a genuine strengthening of consumer protection and wider use of collective redress mechanisms.
We encourage you to explore our previous posts discussing the key assumptions of the draft act implementing Directive 2020/1828, including our brochure on the subject. The new mechanisms outlined in the brochure will soon become part of our legal reality.
