Case law > Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw, 25th Civil Division, dated 27th April 2022

Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw, 25th Civil Division, dated 27th April 2022
XXV C 136/21

  1. In group proceedings, an action to establish the liability of the defendant in a case for a monetary claim arising from an act constituting a single event (Article 2 Section 3 in conjunction with Article 1 Sections 1 and 2) is also permissible in a situation where the premise of the occurrence of the damage and its amount depends on the individual factual circumstances of the individual members of the group. The court is of the opinion that the purpose of this stage of the proceedings was in no way to examine the legitimacy of the claim made on the grounds of the defendant’s liability for damages. Indeed, it is not permissible for the court at the stage of preliminary examination of the admissibility of the examination of the claim to refer directly to the assessment of the merits of the claim in the form of conducting evaluative considerations on the circumstances justifying the existence and type of, for example, a causal link between the plaintiffs’ damage and the defendant’s behavior.
  2. In addition, attention should be drawn to the need for a purposive interpretation of Article 1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings. Undoubtedly, the intention of the legislator was to make it easier (and not more difficult) for consumers, or persons who have suffered damage in connection with a dangerous product or a tort, to pursue their claims. Thus, the interpretation of the provisions of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings should be made in such a way as to facilitate the pursuit of such claims by group members.

The Regional Court in Warsaw, 25th Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge:              Krystyna Stawecka, Regional Court Judge

having recognized on 27th April 2022 in Warsaw at an session in camera pursuant to Article 15zzs1 of the Act of 2nd March 2020 on Special Solutions Related to the Prevention, Counteracting and Combating of COVID-19, Other Infectious Diseases and Crisis Situations Caused by Them (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1478) in group proceedings

the case brought by A. G. (group representative) against the State Treasury – Council of Ministers, Minister of Health, Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration for determination (on the admissibility of group proceedings)

decided to:

hear the case in group proceedings.