Decision of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw, 6th Civil Division, dated December 6, 2017
VI ACz 1357/17

1. It is advisable to interpret the homogeneity of claims taking into account the objectives of class action proceedings. An overly narrow or strict interpretation of the prerequisite of homogeneity of claims would, in practice, limit the admissibility of class action proceedings.
2. The requirement of the same or similar factual basis for the claim means that the factual basis for the claim does not have to be identical circumstances, and a significant similarity should be considered sufficient.
3. The condition of the same factual basis is met when the facts justifying the existence of a specific legal relationship, which is the basis for the claims, are the same for all members of the group. This is not precluded by the existence of other facts included in the factual basis of the claim and relating exclusively to a specific member of the group (such as the nature of individual claims, their due date, or amount).
4. Case law allows for the possibility of recognizing only the amount of a given claim as the common circumstances of the case referred to in Article 2(1) of the Class Action Act and, according to this criterion, to standardize claims in subgroups.
5. The issue of determining the composition of the group, and thus the composition of a given subgroup, remains outside the scope of the assessment of the admissibility of class action proceedings.
6. The expansion of the group’s composition is permissible even before the announcement of the commencement of proceedings. Although the Civil Procedure Code does not refer to the situation of joining the group after the filing of a lawsuit and before the announcement of the commencement of proceedings, the doctrine argues that there are no obstacles to such an action.

The Court of Appeal in Warsaw, 6th Civil Division, composed of the following:

Presiding Judge: SSA Małgorzata Kuracka

Judges: SSA Małgorzata Borkowska, SSA Marek Kolasiński (rep.)

having examined on December 6, 2017, in Warsaw, at a closed session, the case brought by the Municipal Consumer Ombudsman at the City Hall of S. against (…) Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń (…) S.A. with its registered office in W. (formerly: (…) Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń S.A. with its registered office in W.) for payment or, alternatively, for a determination,

as a result of the defendant’s appeal against the decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw of November 4, 2016, file ref. no. III C 62/14,

decides:

1. to correct the contested decision by replacing the incorrect designation of the subject matter of this case “for payment” with the correct designation “for payment or determination”;
2. to dismiss the complaint;
3. to leave the decision on the costs of the complaint proceedings to the Regional Court in Warsaw in its final ruling.