Decision of the Court of Appeals in Łódź 1st Civil Division of 30th November 2012
I ACz 1370/12

1. The deposit for the purpose of securing the costs of the proceedings is specific – unique in comparison with the rules of procedure indicated in the Code of Civil Procedure – institution prescribed in Article 8 section 1 of the Act of 17 December 2009 on pursuing claims in group proceedings – which in consequence can be applied only in cases examined in the group proceedings.
2. The content of Article 1 section 1 and Article 10 of this act indicate that examination of claims pursued in group proceedings takes place in certain stages. Even though the cited act does not regulate the deadline for the ruling on the present motion, and only clearly states the deadline for its possible submission, the analysis of its legitimacy at the moment in which it is not yet certain whether the initiated group proceedings will be deemed admissible (the submitted claims are included in the category of claims admissible to be pursued in the manner of the indicated act) is groundless. The motion should become the subject of the court’s examination in the event of prejudging the admissibility of the present group proceedings.
3. In assessing the amount of the possible deposit and the conditions for its payment, the Court should consider, first and foremost, its amount in relation to the value of the object of the dispute, as well as, even if potentially – the estimated, real costs of the proceedings, which the claimant would have to incur in the event of the groundlessness of the statement of claims, including the costs of legal representation on the side of the defendant at a comparable level, to the costs which are being demanded in this scope, or which the claimant could effectively demand. In every case, the regional court cannot lose sight of the principle of the equal treatment of parties.