Order of the District Court of Warsaw, III Civil Division, dated April 6, 2018
III C 171/16

1. The court’s decision on the admissibility of group proceedings is not discretionary. If a case meets the prerequisites for group proceedings (as specified in Article 1 of the Law on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings), the court may not refuse to hear the case in group proceedings.
2. The decision on determining the composition of the group is constitutive, and it is the decision that finally shapes the composition of the group in group proceedings. Once the order becomes final, the declaration of withdrawal from the group is ineffective. There follows the closure of the second stage of the group proceedings – that is, the so-called subjective stage.
3. The composition of the group is – according to Article 16 of the Law on Enforcement of Claims in Group Proceedings – subject to examination by the Court, and it is not possible to rely on the statements of the group representative and alleged members alone. The burden of proving group membership rests with the plaintiff (i.e., the class representative). In the case of monetary claims, mere assertion is insufficient, it is necessary for the representative to prove the composition of the group.
4. The provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure contained in Articles 227 – 315 apply to group proceedings, in terms of examining the status of the group. In group proceedings, it is necessary to prove the basis of the asserted claim of individual members of the group, so that it can be established that they are members.
5. The members of the group are not entitled to stand trial, the sole standing is held by the plaintiff, who is the representative of the group. A class member, on the other hand, has substantive standing, so a class member has only such rights as are expressly provided for in the Law on the Investigation of Claims in Group Proceedings.

The District Court of Warsaw, III Civil Division, in the following composition:

Presiding Judge:       SSO Ewa Witkowska

Judges:                       SSO Joanna Kruczkowska, SSR del. Rafał Schmidt

Having recognized on April 6, 2018 in Warsaw, at a closed session, the case from the action of M.D. (1) as a representative of the class, against (…) Limited Liability Company with its registered office in K. for payment, on determining the composition of the class,

decides:

determine that the present proceedings are pending as a class proceeding, and that the group represented by M. D. (1) has the following composition:

subgroup no. I:

[data of 2 people].

subgroup no. II:

[data of 2 persons].

subgroup no III:

[data of 2 persons].

subgroup no. IV:

[data of 3 persons].

subgroup no. V:

[data of 3 persons].

subgroup no VI:

[data of 11 persons].

subgroup no. VII:

[data of 2 persons].

subgroup no VIII:

[data of 3 persons].

subgroup no. XI:

[data of 5 persons].

subgroup no. X:

[data of 4 persons].

subgroup no. XI:

[data of 4 persons].

subgroup no. XII:

[data of 2 persons].