Resolution of the Supreme Court of 16th September 2015
III CZP 51/15

1. In class action for establishment of the defendant’s liability on the basis of Article 2.3 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, the claimant must also formulate a pecuniary claim, the pursuit of which the establishment of the defendant’s liability is to serve in later individual proceedings and the establishment of this liability in group proceedings is to take place in reference to a pecuniary claim, the performance of which is sought from the defendant by members of the group. This is because establishing the defendant’s liability on the basis of Article 2.3 of the indicated Act may not occur in separation from the legal relationship being the source of this liability or from the claim stemming therefrom and the performance of which is sought by members of the group and which, under Article 1.1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, must be of the same type and based on the same or similar factual basis. Elements common for group members are of decisive significance for the admissibility of group proceedings and the court’s cognition. This is because, in these proceedings, the court is to establish circumstances common for all group members which constitute a precondition for the pursued claim.
2. In a class action for the establishment of the defendant’s liability, court proceedings should be limited to establishing a certain conglomerate of factual and legal circumstances common for all members of the group and constituting a precondition of individual pecuniary claims addressed against the defendant. Therefore, the Court should establish only those preconditions of this liability which are actually common for all members of the group and the assessment of which in these proceedings does not collide with the nature thereof. It is necessary to approach in a similar way to the defendant’s allegations related to the principle of the defendant’s liability. The above mentioned allegations should be examined by the court in group proceedings limited to establishing the liability of the defendant, if they are not of an individual nature, but concerning in an equal manner all members of the group and are based on identical circumstances, also pertaining to all members of the group to the same extent. This also applies to the charge of statute of limitation of a pecuniary claim, the pursuit of which in later individual proceedings the establishment of defendant’s liability is to serve.
3. In group proceedings for establishing the defendant’s liability, the court therefore examines a charge of statute of limitation of a pecuniary claim if it pertains to all members of the group and is based on identical circumstances pertaining to all of them. This allegation is then examined by the court as another precondition of the defendant’s liability common for all members of the group. It is compliant with the goal and function of group proceedings since allowing the charge of statute of limitation leads to an exclusion of the defendant’s liability and dismissal of the claim already at this stage of the proceedings, whereas disallowing this allegation and establishing the defendant’s liability excludes the possibility of invoking the limitation in potential individual proceedings.