Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw 25th Civil Division of 1st August 2014
XXV C 530/14
The decision was reversed by the decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw of 25th September 2014, file ref. no XXV C 530/14.
- The Legislator did not specify the criteria of examination the request based on Article 8.1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, leaving the decision at the discretionary, but not arbitrary recognition of the court. The court should refer to certain circumstances of the particular case. The defendant demanding the payment of a deposit should indicate and prove the factual circumstances justifying such a decision.
- The obligation to pay the deposit to secure the costs of the proceedings could be justified especially, if one had proven that there are circumstances indicating a high degree of likelihood that in the event of losing the case, the claimant would avoid paying the costs of the proceedings awarded to the defendant – especially that the claimant would hide its wealth in order to impede or avoid the debt enforcement proceedings. The argument for such a decision would also be that the predicted and specified costs of the defendant are so high that the lack of its reimbursement would threat its financial liquidity and that there is a real threat of not reimbursing the costs by the claimant, even due to faultless reasons.
- In principle, the case is examined in group proceedings by the court sitting with three judges. However, a decision on the deposit is a formal one, not concerning the substance of the case, which can be issued in closed session. Therefore, the decision may be issued by the court sitting as a single judge.
The decision was reversed by the decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw of 25th September 2014, file ref. no. XXV C 530/14.
