Judgment of the Supreme Court, Civil Chamber, dated 12th April 2023
II CSKP 28/23

1. In the case of proceedings initiated prior to the date of entry into force of the Act of 7^th April 2017 on the Amendments to Certain Acts to Facilitate Debt Recovery – 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 pursued in these proceedings; such review is not prevented by Article 10a of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings – as this regulation took effect on 1^st June 2017, and pursuant to Article 13 of the Act of 7^th April 2017 on the Amendments on Certain Acts to Facilitate Debt Recovery, it applies to proceedings initiated from the date of entry into force of the said Act.
2. The homogeneity of the claims pursued in group proceedings and their reliance on the same or similar factual basis is evidenced by the very content of the demand and the concurrence or identicality of the facts indicated in support of it; Article 1 Section 1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings refers to a procedural claim, not a claim under substantive law.

The Supreme Court in the Civil Chamber, composed of:

Presiding judge:             Małgorzata Manowska, First President of the Supreme Court

Judges:                            Beata Janiszewska, Supreme Court Judge (Judge – Rapporteur);

Robert Stefanicki, Supreme Court Judge

having recognized at a session in camera on 12^th April 2023 in Warsaw, the appeal in cassation of the Mazovian Voivodeship against the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Łódź, 1^st Civil Division, dated 14^th April 2021, I ACa 1099/18, in a case brought by W. S. as a representative of a group in group proceedings, consisting of: [data of 28 group members] against the State Treasury – Mazovian Voivode, the State Water Management Company Polish Waters and the Mazovian Voivodeship for determination,

1. dismisses the appeal in cassation,
2. awards from the Mazovian Voivodship in favor of W. S. as the representative of the group in the group proceedings the amount of 5,400 (five thousand four hundred) as reimbursement of the costs of the cassation proceedings.