- The amounts indicated in the declarations on joining the group cover the value of the claims which individual members are entitled to. Therefore, the amount indicated in the declaration defines the value of the demand of the person joining the group, and this value may be later standardised. The individual parties give their consent to such a standardisation, which is a consequence of joining the group. In the case standardisation is performed, the value of the claims pursued in the subgroup may undoubtedly be lower than the value of individual claims to which members of a given subgroup were initially entitled to.
The judgements of the Regional Court in Wroclaw published on the website were facilitated by the President of the District Court in Wroclaw in the letter of 27th August 2019. The texts of the judgements were processed by the entity operating this website by adding theses, visual compilation and removing punctuation and literal errors. The judgements have been translated by the entity operating this website.
The authority obliged to provide public sector information is not responsible for its processing, further sharing and use.
The Regional Court in Katowice 2nd Civil Division in the following ruling bench:
Presiding Judge: Agata Stankiewicz-Rataj, Regional Court Judge
Judges: Izabella Knych, Regional Court Judge, Anna Bogaczyk-Żyłka, District Court Judge (delegated)
having examined on 5th June 2014 in Katowice at the hearing in camera an action for a declaration of the invalidity of the contract and for payment filed by M.L. – the representative of the group in the class action against the Housing Association (…) in B.
hereby decides to:
examine the case in group proceedings.
- The claims can be considered as homogenous when they result from one type of legal relationship. Claims pursued by the group’s representative are claims for compensation, resulting from the defendant’s tort, hence they are homogenous claims.
- A factual basis of the claims in group proceedings is a set of statements indicated by the group’s representative in the substantiation of the statement of claims from which the claim of each of the group members expressed in the said statement of claims is derived. An equal factual basis of claims can be spoken of when the fundamental factual circumstances comprising the basis for the demand of the statement of claims are similar.
- In the case of tortious liability, the commonality of the factual basis is preserved when all factual circumstances comprising the grounds of the defendant’s liability occur in relation to all the group members. Therefore, these must be common for all the group members: damage-causing events, a causal link between these events and the damage and the damage itself. Claims stemming from the same type of event (tort) may be recognised as based on the equal (similar) factual basis.
- The issue of the existence of the causal link between the defendant’s specific actions and omissions and the occurrence of damage to an individual undoubtedly belongs to the sphere of factual circumstances resting at the basis of the action. Hence, it is not possible to hear a case in which this issue is differently shaped for various members of the group in group proceedings.
- The objective of the proceedings in the case for the establishment of the defendant’s tortious liability is determining a homogenous principle of the defendant’s liability towards all members of the group and parties which may acquire this status. As it follows directly from the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings (Article 2.3) in a declaratory action conducted in group proceedings, the claimant does not have to demonstrate the existence of a legal interest. Such a regulation stems precisely from assuming that – in tortious liability cases – the damage occurrence mechanism is equal for all the members of the group.
- The provision of Article 417 CC regulates the liability of the State Treasury and local government units for damage caused by an unlawful action or omission while exercising the public authority. The actions of a municipality related to the construction of a sewage grid and the conclusion of agreements with residents should be qualified as actions in the scope of civil law since no elements of the sovereign shaping of a situation of individuals arose. There are no grounds for qualifying the municipality’s actions generally related to the construction of the sewage grid, including the participation in the costs of construction, as acts of authority in its sovereign capacity.
- The persons acceding to the class action proceedings need to meet all the conditions prescribed in art. 12 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, namely they ought to stake out the claim, indicate the factual circumstances which substantiate the claim, the circumstances which substantiate the affiliation to the group and show evidence in support of these facts.
- The court should, already while establishing the composition of the group, check if these separate claims are not subject to a limitation period.
- If a court finds at this stage a claim to be subject to the statute of limitations, a group member may pursue claims individually, e.g. invoking Article 5 CC.
The Regional Court in Warsaw 1st Civil Division in the following ruling bench:
Alicja Fronczyk, Regional Court Judge
Ewa Ligoń-Krawczyk, Regional Court Judge
Rafał Wagner, Regional Court Judge
having examined on 4th April 2014 in Warsaw at the hearing in camera the case filed by M.B. as the representative of the group: (…) against (…) Limited Liability Company for payment
decides to:
establish under Article 17 (1) of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings the composition of the group as follows: [43 group members].
The Regional Court in Warsaw 25th Civil Division in the following ruling bench:
Presiding Judge: Anna Pogorzelska, Regional Court Judge
Judges: Janina Dąbrowiecka, Regional Court Judge; Hanna Jaworska, Regional Court Judge
having examined on 31th January 2014 at the hearing in camera of a class action filed by E. L. against (…) for payment,
hereby decides to:
hear the case in a class action.
- The basis for assessing the consumer nature of claims has to be their source – contracts, in which the group members acted as consumers. Persons who signed – not in the scope of theirs business activity – contracts with the housing cooperative on building or buying rights to the flats and parking places – are consumers.
- The situation of group members should be identical at a glance and cannot require the hearing of evidence at the preliminary stage of the proceedings, when the general premises of group proceedings admissibility are examined. Claims of group members are not based on a common factual basis, if the hearing of evidence should be conducted differently in respect to some of as opposed to the other group members.
- Provisions concerning group proceedings emphasize the status of a group representative as a sui generis agent, who acts in his own name but in favour of the group. A representative is obliged to return everything to the group members that he or she gained for them while performing the duties of a group representative. If the group members incurred costs of professional legal representation in proceedings handled in favour of them, they are entitled to reimbursement if the judgement awarding costs to the claimant is issued.
- In group proceedings it is necessary to distinguish between claimant in the formal and substantive meaning. Although a court decides about the legitimacy of the substantive claims of the group or subgroup members, and by allowing the claims it indicates the amounts due to the group or subgroup members, and though judgement in that regard is an enforcement title, there is the only claimant in these proceedings, and it is the group representative. Although the group or subgroup members may be heard as parties, none of them are parties to the proceedings.
- Since group or subgroup members are not parties to group proceedings, it is impossible to reject a statement of claims in relation to them. The court’s prerogative to exclude someone from the group appears after the validation of decision on the admissibility of group proceedings, at the stage when new persons are joining to the case. Before that moment, the court is not entitled to modify the group’s composition.
- In group proceedings, it is inadmissible to partially reject a statement of claims, in relation to some group or subgroup members. The claim – in its procedural meaning – is one, adjudged with the claimant – the group representative. There are no grounds for division of this claim and for its partial rejection.
The decision was reversed by the decision of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw of 21st November 2014, file ref. no. VI ACz 4250/14.
- Members of the group, represented by the claimant, pursue only one type of claim, understood in the procedural sense as coming forth by all members of the group with the demand to grant a genetically identical form of legal protection, namely with an action for payment. Members of the group seek to be awarded a specific amount of money, coming forth against the defendant with a homogenous pecuniary claim. If they seek protection of property interests, due to the identity of the goods subject to protection, the homogeneity of the claim is supported also by its property nature.
- Claims based on an identical factual status are claims sharing the same factual basis (a sensu stricto precondition) or claims sharing relevant factual circumstances (a sensu largo precondition). Despite the fact that all of them were bound by contracts concluded individually with the defendant company, members of the group invoke the abusive nature of contractual clauses functioning in the model contracts used in the case of each client. In this sense, it was the same factual precondition, while individual differences resulting from the content of individual legal relationships of the group’s members do not result in “separation” of the factual basis of their claims. We deal with the same factual basis of the statement of claims (identity of factual circumstances) when there is a bond based on uniformity of the event being the source of the claim between the group’s members. Claims of each of the members are derived not so much from individual contracts, as from the fact that each of them – according to statements contained in the statement of claims – provided for such a manner of determination of the premises surface area required to set the price which, according to the group’s members, had the characteristics of an abusive clause.
- Cases pertaining to claims brought by consumers against entrepreneurs and arising against various bases will be cases for consumer protection. Consumer protection cases are cases arising against consumers’ claims towards the entrepreneur from lease agreements, sale agreements, credit or loan agreements, or carriage agreements. A case arising against agreements aimed at purchasing residential premises in the frames of an investment realised by the defendant in the capacity of a developer, with the aim of satisfying personal residential needs of the group’s members and their relatives, constitutes precisely a case on consumer rights protection.
- The principles for standardisation (equalisation) of claims of group’s members and formation of sub-groups consisted in such a specification of claims of individual members of the group in such a manner that to the nominally lowest claim of a given member (members) of the group the nominally closest in terms of the amount claim of another member (members) of the group is attached. Simultaneously, a table was attached to the statement of claims listing group’s members’ claims divided into individual sub-groups with the indication of a member (members) of the group and the claim they are entitled to, division into subgroups and indication of the claim they are entitled to and the claim equalised within the subgroup. The manner of standardisation of claims thus established is compliant with the criteria provided for in Article 2 of the Act.
The judgements of the Regional Court in Wroclaw published on the website were facilitated by the President of the District Court in Wroclaw in letter of 27th August 2019. The texts of the judgements were processed by the entity operating this website by adding theses, visual compilation and removing punctuation and literal errors. The judgements have been translated by the entity operating this website.
The authority obliged to provide public sector information is not responsible for its processing, further sharing and use.
- The Act does not provide the time limit for correction of deficiencies pertaining to declarations on joining the group, providing only that after the lapse of a deadline set forth by the court, not shorter than one month from the date of serving the claimant membership-related charges, the court issues a decision on the composition of the group. This means that correction of deficiencies and misstatements related to accessing the group may be effectively performed after the lapse of the date set forth for joining the group itself. Adopting the contrary view would undermine the sense of conducting group proceedings, which may cover a larger number of individuals (group members) and in frames of which it is difficult to avoid certain oversights or deficiencies – especially in the scope of a declaration on joining the group and the need to collect and meticulously verify required documentation.
- At the stage of deciding on the group’s composition it is not the court’s task to adjudicate on the merits of the pursued claims.
- A consumer should benefit from the protection provided for in Articles 3851 – 3853 CC, regardless of the fact whether he is a party to a contract directly or a cessionary. The circumstance that certain group members joined a group on the grounds of an assignment agreement does not impact the sameness of the factual basis of the group proceedings, and therefore its admissibility.
- In the Court’s opinion, the members of the group are pursuing one type of claims, based on the same factual basis, since they derive them from the termination of their agreements for the heat supply, effective on 31st August 2013. Hence, they comply with the conditions mentioned in Article 1.1 of the Act of 17 December 2009 on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings.
The decision was reversed by the decision of the Court of Appeals in Katowice of 4th July 2014, file ref. no. I ACz 260/14.
