Judgment of the Supreme Court Civil Chamber of April 12, 2023
II CSKP 1948/23
- In the case of proceedings initiated prior to the date of entry into force of the Law of April 7, 2017 on amendments to certain laws to facilitate the enforcement of claims – the validity of the decisions to hear the case in group proceedings does not preclude the Supreme Court from reviewing whether the claims sought can actually be asserted in these proceedings; such review is not prevented by Article 10a of the Acts of the Supreme Court – as this normalization did not take effect until June 1, 2017, and pursuant to Article 13 of the Act of April 7, 2017 amending certain laws to facilitate the enforcement of claims, it applies to proceedings initiated from the date of entry into force of the said Act.
- The homogeneity of the claims asserted in group proceedings and their reliance on the same or the same factual basis is evidenced by the very content of the demand and the concurrence or identity of the facts indicated in support of it; for Article 1(1) of the A.d.r.p.g. refers to a procedural claim, not a claim under substantive law.
The Supreme Court in the Civil Chamber, composed of:
Presiding judge: First President of the Supreme Court Małgorzata Manowska
Judges: SSN Beata Janiszewska (Rapporteur), SSN Robert Stefanicki
having reviewed at a closed session on April 12, 2023 in Warsaw, the cassation appeal of the State Treasury – Mazowieckie Governor, State Water Management Wody Polskie against the judgment of the Court of Appeals in Łódź of April 14, 2021, I ACa 1099/18; I ACz 1451/18, in a case brought by W. S. as a representative of a group in class proceedings, consisting of: [data of 28 group members] against the State Treasury – Mazovian Governor, the State Water Management Company Wody Polskie and the Mazovian Voivodeship for determination,
- dismisses the cassation appeal,
- awards the amount of PLN 5,400 (five thousand four hundred) against the State Treasury – Mazovian Governor, State Water Management Wody Polskie in favor of W. S. as a representative of the group in the group proceedings as reimbursement of the costs of the cassation proceedings.
