Case law > Judgment of the Regional Court in Katowice 2nd Civil Division of 12th April 2017

Judgment of the Regional Court in Katowice 2nd Civil Division of 12th April 2017
II C 817/13

  1. Under Article 4 (1) of the Polish Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, the representative of the group is the person filing the action. Thus, the representative of the group, who filed the action on behalf of the group members, is a claimant in the procedural meaning, whereas the group members are claimants in the substantive meaning.
  2. Under Article 17 (1) of the Polish Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, the Court issues a decision on composition of the group. The doctrine indicates that decision on the composition of the group is of a constitutive nature. Thus the membership in the group is not created by declarations on joining the group submitted by individuals, but by the issuance of the Court’s decision on the composition of the group’ establishes its composition in a class action.
  3. There is no need to examine the claim of a group member who passed away before the decision establishing the group composition was rendered.
  4. It seems admissible to broaden the demand of the statement of claims by claims of further persons, because it does not obligate the Court to establish the group membership anew. As a result of such broadening, the already validly established composition of the group is not changed.
  5. The pursuit of a cash claim on the basis of Article 2 (3) shall be broken down into two stages: the first one as a class action for establishment and the second as individual actions for payment.
  6. It should be emphasized that when only demanding the establishing of the defendant’s liability under Article 2 (3) of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, the claimant also needs to formulate a cash claim, the pursuing of which in later individual proceedings is aimed at determining defendant’s liability and this liability in group proceedings must be established in reference to a cash claim the performance of which group members seek from the defendant.

Judgment of the Regional Court in Katowice 2nd Civil Division in the following ruling bench:

Presiding Judge: Agata Stankiewicz-Rataj, Regional Court Judge

Judges: Anna Bogaczyk-Żyłka, Regional Court Judge, Lech Skórski, Regional Court Judge

having examined on 12th April 2017 in Katowice at a hearing the case filed by M. G. – the group representative, also acting for members of the group: (…) against Housing Cooperative (…) in B. for the establishment of the invalidity of the agreements and for payment

hereby decides to:

  1. dismiss the action
  2. abstain from charging the claimant with the obligation to reimburse the defendant for the costs of proceedings.