Decision of the Court of Appeals in Krakow 1st Civil Division of 17th September 2012
I ACz 1324/12

1. The modification of the statement of claims brought by the claimant consists in bringing a new claim without changing the factual basis of the claim raised. It is beyond any doubt that the new claim (for establishment) was raised in place of the hitherto one (for payment). In this state of affairs, irrelevant was the Regional Court’s finding that the demand for payment still remains to be examined in the case, if the claimant expressly stated that that the modification of the statement of claims performed by him constituted neither a tacit nor express withdrawal of the suit or renunciation of the pursued claim.
2. There were no grounds for the issuance of a decision regarding the initially raised claim for payment. As already indicated, there was no grounds whatsoever to find that the primary demand was still subject of examination and, in consequence, there was no need to reject it. There were no grounds to discontinue the proceedings in this scope. It is particularly fitting to point to the specificity of the claim for establishment of the defendant’s liability, provided for in Article 2 section 3 of the Act on pursuing of claims in group proceedings, as aimed at establishment of the principle of the defendants’ liability. A situation where both the claim for payment and for establishment are based on the same factual basis, at the mutual relation of these claims arising from the specific provisions contained in the quoted Act, in the event of the admissible modification of the statement of claims, renders discontinuation of the proceedings superfluous.