Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw, 3rd Civil Division, dated 6th April 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 Act 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 decision 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 Act on Pursuing 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 group 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 pursued 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 group member, on the other hand, has substantive standing, so a group member has only such rights as are expressly provided for in the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings.

The Regional Court in Warsaw, 3^rd Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge:                      Ewa Witkowska, Regional Courte Judge

Judges:                                      Joanna Kruczkowska, Regional Courte Judge;

Rafał Schmidt, District Court Judge (delegated)

having recognized on 6^th April 2018 in Warsaw, at a session in camera, the case brought by M.D. (1) as a representative of the class, against (…) Limited Liability Company with its registered office in K. for payment, regarding the determination of the composition of the group,

decides to:

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

subgroup no. I:

[data of 2 persons].

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].