Decision of the Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, dated 24th February 2016
I C 862/12

1. The court’s decision on the composition of the group is constitutive in nature. It is not the declaration of a certain person to join the group, but only the court’s decision on the composition of the group that finally shapes the composition of the group in the group proceedings. The declaration on the composition of the group creates the subjective side of the group proceedings, ultimately shaping the composition of the group in the group proceedings.
2. A final court decision on the composition of the group closes the second stage of the group proceeding, concluding the determination of the subject and object scope of the case.
3. The court’s decision on the composition of the group in group proceedings has certain consequences in the sphere of the interests of its members. Once it becomes final, no group member may withdraw from the group. The declaration of a group member to withdraw from the group after the decision on the composition of the group is ineffective. The sanction of ineffectiveness means that the statement (made after the expiration of the specified period) has no legal effect.
4. The objections to group membership described in Article 15 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings cannot be an instrument for revisiting the uniformity of the situation of group members who have already participated in the proceedings at the stage of the court’s consideration of the application for admission of the case to group proceedings.
5. The premise of the uniformity (homogeneity) of the situation of group members, including the uniformity of their claims and the uniformity of the facts from which their claims are derived, is – in accordance with the requirements set forth in Article 2 Section 1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings – the subject of the court’s analysis at the stage of considering the admission of the case to group proceedings. It would be clearly pointless to analyze this issue again at subsequent stages of the group proceedings.
6. The questioning of the amount of individual sums claimed by group members can be considered only at the stage of the merits of the case, and not at the preliminary stage of determining the composition of the group.
7. Pursuant to the wording of Article 24 Section 1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, to the extent not regulated by the Act, the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure shall apply, which, with respect to the parties to the proceedings, adopts as a rule the succession of litigation (cf. in particular Article 180 Paragraph 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure), and this rule should also be applied to group members in group proceedings.

The Regional Court in Kraków, 1^st Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge: Izabella Dyka, Regional Court Judge

Judges: Elżbieta Bednarczuk, Regional Court Judge; Kamil Grzesik, Regional Court Judge

having recognized on 24^th February 2016 in Kraków at a session in camera in a case brought by D. N. – representative of a group consisting of: [data of 49 persons], against (…) with its registered office in N. for payment

decides to:

1. determine the composition of the group, which includes the following persons: [data of 55 persons];
2. dismiss the defendant’s motion to exclude from the composition of the group;
3. dismiss the defendant’s motion to refer the case to a public hearing and set a hearing.