Decision of the Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, dated 14th October 2021

Written by

The Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge:           Magdalena Nagaduś, Regional Court Judge

Judges:                            Marta Woźniak, Regional Court Judge;

Edyta Żyła, District Court Judge (delegated)

having recognized on 14th October 2021 in Kraków at a session in camera in the case brought by M.K. – representative of a group consisting of: [data of 25 group members] against the Housing Cooperative […] in K. in liquidation for payment

decides to:

  1. hear the case in group proceedings.

Decision of the Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, dated 15th June 2020

Written by

The Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge:           Magdalena Nagaduś, Regional Court Judge

Judges:                            Marta Woźniak, Regional Court Judge;

Edyta Żyła, District Court Judge (delegated)

having recognized on 15th June 2020 in Kraków at a session in camera in the case brought by (…) against the Housing Cooperative (…) in (…) in liquidation for payment

decides to:

dismiss the motion of the plaintiff – the representative of the group to secure the claims – in view of the demand for an impermissible method of securing monetary claims.

Decision of the Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, dated 25th April 2022

Written by

The Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge:            Magdalena Nagaduś, Regional Court Judge

Judges:                            Marta Woźniak, Regional Court Judge;

 Edyta Żyła, District Court Judge (delegated)

having recognized on 25th April 2022 in Kraków at a session in camera in the case of an action brought by M.K. – representative of a group consisting of: [data of 25 group members] against the Housing Cooperative […] in K. in liquidation for payment

decides to:

  1. order a notice of commencement of group proceedings with the following wording:

“The Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, announces the commencement, in the case to file I C 188/20, of group proceedings

as a result of a group action filed by M. K. (1), representative of a group consisting of: [data of 25 group members]

against the Housing Cooperative (…) in K. in liquidation

for payment of funds remaining after completion of liquidation of the defendant cooperative.

The court informs about the possibility of joining the group by persons whose claims may be covered by the group action, by submitting to the group representative M. K. (1), represented by attorney legal counsel E. K. of Legal Counsel, Square (…), room (…), (…)-(…) K. – within one month from the date of announcement, a written statement on joining the group. Joining the group after the expiration of the set deadline is inadmissible. The attorney’s fee for conducting the proceedings shall be 1% of the value of the subject matter of the litigation for each instance from each member of the group. The judgment has a binding effect on all group members.”

  1. publish the notice by posting it on the website of the Public Information Bulletin of the Regional Court in Kraków and on the website of the defendant’s attorney – attorney-at-law T. F.

Decision of the Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, dated 24th February 2016

Written by

  1. The court’s decision on the composition of the group is constitutive in nature. It is not the declaration of a certain person to join the group, but only the court’s decision on the composition of the group that finally shapes the composition of the group in the group proceedings. The declaration on the composition of the group creates the subjective side of the group proceedings, ultimately shaping the composition of the group in the group proceedings.
  2. A final court decision on the composition of the group closes the second stage of the group proceeding, concluding the determination of the subject and object scope of the case.
  3. The court’s decision on the composition of the group in group proceedings has certain consequences in the sphere of the interests of its members. Once it becomes final, no group member may withdraw from the group. The declaration of a group member to withdraw from the group after the decision on the composition of the group is ineffective. The sanction of ineffectiveness means that the statement (made after the expiration of the specified period) has no legal effect.
  4. The objections to group membership described in Article 15 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings cannot be an instrument for revisiting the uniformity of the situation of group members who have already participated in the proceedings at the stage of the court’s consideration of the application for admission of the case to group proceedings.
  5. The premise of the uniformity (homogeneity) of the situation of group members, including the uniformity of their claims and the uniformity of the facts from which their claims are derived, is – in accordance with the requirements set forth in Article 2 Section 1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings – the subject of the court’s analysis at the stage of considering the admission of the case to group proceedings. It would be clearly pointless to analyze this issue again at subsequent stages of the group proceedings.
  6. The questioning of the amount of individual sums claimed by group members can be considered only at the stage of the merits of the case, and not at the preliminary stage of determining the composition of the group.
  7. Pursuant to the wording of Article 24 Section 1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, to the extent not regulated by the Act, the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure shall apply, which, with respect to the parties to the proceedings, adopts as a rule the succession of litigation (cf. in particular Article 180 Paragraph 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure), and this rule should also be applied to group members in group proceedings.

 

The Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge: Izabella Dyka, Regional Court Judge

Judges: Elżbieta Bednarczuk, Regional Court Judge; Kamil Grzesik, Regional Court Judge

having recognized on 24th February 2016 in Kraków at a session in camera in a case brought by D. N. – representative of a group consisting of: [data of 49 persons], against (…) with its registered office in N. for payment

decides to:

  1. determine the composition of the group, which includes the following persons: [data of 55 persons];
  2. dismiss the defendant’s motion to exclude from the composition of the group;
  3. dismiss the defendant’s motion to refer the case to a public hearing and set a hearing.

Order of the District Court in Krakow, 1st Civil Division, dated May 5, 2017

Written by

  1. Pursuant to Article 17 Section 1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, the court shall issue a decision as to the composition of the group, which may be amended pursuant to Article 359 Paragraph 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure as not terminating the group proceedings.
  2. Pursuant to the wording of Article 24 Section 1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, to the extent not regulated by the Act, the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure shall apply, which, with respect to the parties to the proceedings, adopts as a rule the succession of litigation (cf., in particular, Article 180 Paragraph 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure), and this rule should also be applied to group members in group proceedings.
  3. The status of a group member in group proceedings is substantially similar to that of a litigant: first, the action in group proceedings is brought by a group representative on his own behalf, but also on behalf of all group members (Article 4 Sections 1 and 3 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings); second, there is a lis pendens between the group member and the defendant (cf. Article 13 Section 1 and Article 24 Section 1 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings in conjunction with Article 192 Point 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure); thirdly, the court, when issuing a judgment after conducting a group proceeding, decides with respect to each individual member of the group, and not only its representative (the group member is therefore a litigant in the substantive legal sense).

 

The Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge:            Izabella Dyka, Regional Court Judge

Judges:                            Elżbieta Bednarczuk, Regional Court Judge;

Kamil Grzesik, Regional Court Judge

having recognized on 5th May 2017, in Kraków, at a session in camera, the case brought by D. N. – representative of a group consisting of: [data of 55 persons], against (…) with its registered office in N. for payment

decides to:

amend point I of the decision of the Regional Court in Kraków dated 24th February 2016, file number I C 862/12, so that A. L. is designated as a member of the group in question, in place of T. J..

Decision of the Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, dated 29th November 2021

Written by

The Regional Court in Kraków, 1st Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge:               Edyta Barańska, Regional Court Judge

having recognized on 29th November 2021 in Kraków at a session in camera the case brought by – the representative of the group N. D. against (…) with its registered office in N. for payment in group proceedings

decides to:

exclude Waldemar Żurek, Regional Court Judge, from adjudicating the case.

Decision of the Regional Court in Elbląg, 1st Civil Division, dated 2nd August 2021

Written by

The Regional Court in Elbląg, 1st Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge:                Arkadiusz Kuta, Regional Court Judge

having recognized on 2nd August 2021, at a session in camera, the case brought by G. R. against (…) Limited Liability Company (…) with its seat in O. for payment,

decides to:

hear the case in group proceedings.

Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw, 2nd Civil Division, dated 29th January 2021

Written by

The Regional Court in Warsaw, 2nd Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge:               Magdalena Antosiewicz, Regional Court Judge

having recognized on 29th January 2021 in Warsaw, at a session in camera, the case of a group action brought by the Poviat Consumer Protection Ombudsman in S. – a group representative acting on behalf of the group consisting of [details of 28 group members] against H. Joint-Stock Company with its registered office in W. for determination,

decides to:

stay the proceedings pursuant to Article 174 Paragraph 1 Point 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Decision of the District Court in Warsaw, 1st Civil Division, dated 10th February 10 2022

Written by

The Regional Court in Warsaw, 1st Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge:             Tadeusz Bulanda, Regional Court Judge

having recognized on 10th February 2022 in Warsaw, at a session in camera, the case brought by K. A. against the State Treasury represented by the Minister of Climate and Environment and the Minister of State Assets with the participation of the Regional Prosecutor in Warsaw for determination,

decides to:

order the announcement in:

a. the Public Information Bulletin of the Regional Court in Warsaw,
b. the Public Information Bulletin of the Ministry of Climate and Environment,
c. the Public Information Bulletin of the Ministry of State Assets,
d. on the website of the Law Office of Legal Counsel R. G. about the initiation of group proceedings

with the following content:

“Before the Regional Court in Warsaw, 1st Civil Division, file number I C 2182/21, there is a group proceeding pending under the Act of 17th December 2009 on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings (i.e., Journal of Laws of 2020, item 446) arising from a claim brought by K. A. against the State Treasury represented by the Minister of Climate and Environment and the Minister of State Assets, with the participation of the Regional Prosecutor in Warsaw, for establishing that the State Treasury is liable towards the plaintiff and members of the group for damages, including non-material damage, in connection with the occurrence in Poland of:

a. exceedances of the limit values for concentrations of PM 10, which occurred in the period from 11th June 2011 to 1st September 2019,

b. exceedances of the limit values for concentrations of PM 2.5, which occurred in the period from 1st January 2015 to 1st September 2019.

Any person whose claim may be covered by a group action (a claim of the same type as described above, based on the same or similar factual basis) may join the case by filing a written declaration of joining the group within a maximum period of three months from the date of publication of this notice and forwarding it to the group representative – K. A., through legal counsel R. G. (address for service: Legal Counsel’s Office R. G., st. (…), (…)-(…) W., e-mail: (…)).

Joining the group after the above deadline is not permitted.

In accordance with the agreement concluded on 17th December 2018 in W. by the representative of the group K. A. with attorney legal counsel R. G.:

a. the attorney does not charge a fee to the group representative,

b. the detailed rules of the attorney’s remuneration for providing legal assistance to the group members consisting in providing legal services in the group proceedings, in the proceedings before the court of first and second instance and in the possible cassation proceedings, shall be determined by the contract of mandate concluded with each of the group members,

c. for the performance of the contract of mandate concluded with each group member, the attorney shall be entitled from each group member to a lump sum remuneration in the gross amount of PLN 246 gross,

d. additional attorney’s fee shall be the costs of legal representation awarded and enforced from the defendant in favor of the group representative,

e. all court fees, advances and deposits shall be borne by the group members in equal parts depending on the number of groupo members.

The final judgment shall have effect against all group members, i.e. persons who, before the expiration of the time limit indicated in this notice, file a declaration of joining the group and will be included in the court’s decision determining the composition of the group.”

Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw, 1st Civil Division, dated 14th May 2014

Written by

  1. Persons expressing a desire to join the group (interested in it) may submit a declaration to join the group within the statutory deadline. Exceeding this deadline has certain consequences, since the law excludes the possibility of restoring the deadline for filing the declaration. Failure to submit the declaration within the statutory deadline thus renders it ineffective. The deadline for joining the group is a strict one, so the person wishing to exercise the granted right to join the group only during it, should do so within the deadline, and the submission of the declaration should be substantiated. Joining the group after the expiration of the specified statutory deadline should therefore be considered ineffective, i.e. not producing the legal effects that the law attaches to joining the group.
  2. Failure to provide even the date of submission of the statement when presented in the proceedings after the deadline set by the court in the press announcement precludes the possibility of assuming as probable the submission of the statement within the required time limit.
  3. The court should determine already at the stage of examining the composition of the group whether the claims of individual group members, if any, are not time-barred. The purpose of determining the composition of the group is to verify that the claims pursued are of one type, based on the same factual basis. Thus, it is the court’s role at the initial stage of the proceedings to determine the prerequisites for the admissibility of the claim individually defining the situation of the group member, so that at the next stage of the proceedings it will be possible to decide on the merits of the case in terms of the common prerequisites. Otherwise, the substantive adjudication of the case would not differ in any way from the proceedings conducted in the ordinary course with the participation of many plaintiffs in disregard of the provisions of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, and the court would individually have to consider whether the statute of limitations was interrupted with respect to individual group members, or whether there was an abuse of rights by the defendant in connection with the raising of the plea of statute of limitations.
  4. The demand to establish the defendant’s liability in a group proceedings is not subject to the statute of limitations.

 

The Regional Court in Warsaw, 1st Civil Division, composed of:

Presiding Judge:           Alicja Fronczyk, Regional Court Judge

Judges:                           Bożena Jaskuła, Regional Court Judge;

Jacek Bajak, Regional Court Judge

having recognized on 14th May 2014 in Warsaw at a session in camera the case brought by B. C. – representing a group consisting of [data of 48 persons] against the State Treasury – Minister of Health for determination,

decides to:

determine that the group consists of: [data of 43 group members].