Decision of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw 6th Civil Division of 16th June 2016
VI ACz 573/16

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.
2. The recognition of an entity as an entrepreneur in the meaning of the Act on Competition and Consumer Protection is decided not by an entry in the Register of Entrepreneurs, but by compliance with adequate criteria specified in the definition of an entrepreneur included in the Act on Freedom of Economic Activity.
3. The substance of group proceedings is an accumulation of claims of multiple parties (entities) within one proceedings. Such an accumulation is justified because of the economics of proceedings and inexpedience of conducting many similar cases. For this reason, in the opinion of the Court of Appeals it is appropriate to carry out an interpretation of the homogeneity of the claims with taking the goals of the group proceedings into account. Too narrow or too strict interpretation premise of the homogeneity of the claims would, in practice, result in limiting the admissibility of group proceedings.
4. Under Article 8.1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, at the defendant’s request, the court may impose on the claimant an obligation to pay a deposit to secure the costs of the proceedings. Hence, from the contents of the subject provision it follows that this is of a facultative nature and its application remains at the court’s discretion.