The institution of disclosure of evidence is an institution that may be applied in representative class actions and is aimed at facilitating the collection of evidence in the possession of the other party to proceedings or third parties.
Upon a written request of the qualified entity which has substantiated the claim as probable and undertaken that the evidence obtained in this way will be used exclusively for the purposes of the pending group proceedings, the court may order the defendant or a third party to disclose or deliver evidence in their possession that is needed to determine relevant facts of the case.
Similarly, upon written request of the defendant who has undertaken that the evidence thus obtained will be used exclusively for the purposes of the pending group proceedings, the court may order the qualified entity or a third party to disclose or deliver evidence in their possession which is needed to determine relevant facts of the case.
The request shall specify the fact to be determined and the evidence together with its description which should be as detailed as possible.
The court shall dismiss a request for disclosure or delivery of evidence if the request does not meet the above-mentioned requirements and if disclosure or delivery of the evidence would be disproportionate. When assessing whether the disclosure or delivery of evidence would be disproportionate, the court shall take into account the legitimate interests of the parties and of any third party who, according to the request, is in possession of the evidence.
The Act provides for regulations aimed at protecting trade secrets or other secrets protected by law on the basis of separate provisions, if the evidence contains such secrets. In such a situation, if it is necessary to prevent the disclosure of such a secret, the court (ex officio or at the request of the person obliged to disclose or deliver the evidence) may, to the necessary extent, issue a decision restricting the right of access to that evidence or specify detailed rules for the access and use of that evidence, in particular by restricting or prohibiting its copying or recording in any other way.
Decisions on the disclosure or delivery of evidence may be the subject of complaint to the court of second instance.
Failure to comply with a decision to disclose or deliver evidence or destruction of such evidence may result in the court considering the facts to be established by such evidence as proven or imposing on the party the obligation to reimburse the costs of the proceedings in whole or in part, regardless of the outcome of the case. Notwithstanding the above, the court may also impose a singular fine of up to PLN 50,000 and PLN 10,000 for each day of delay in the execution of a final decision.
Furthermore, the court may disregard disclosed or delivered evidence if the request for disclosure or delivery was submitted in bad faith or if the restrictions on the right to access or use the evidence were violated, or if the evidence was used for a purpose other than that of the pending proceedings.