Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw 2nd Civil Division of 19th June 2017

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  1. The mandatory representation by a professional counsel set out in Article 4 (4) of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings means that the solely the group representative’s legal counsel who is an attorney-at-law or a legal counsel
  2. Has the capacity to engage in acts in law in the action. The requirement of mandatory representation by a professional counsel in such a situation is of an absolute nature which means that the group representative may not act in the case personally, but only through a professional counsel. Actions performed by the party will be ineffective.

The Regional Court in Warsaw 2nd Civil Division in the following ruling bench:

Presiding Judge: Sylwia Urbańska, Regional Court Judge

Judges: Magdalena Antosiewicz, Regional Court Judge; Michał Chojnacki, District Court Judge (delegated)

having examined on 19th June 2016 in Warsaw at the hearing in camera the case filed by K .S. acting as a group representative on behalf of [15 people] against (…) Zakład (…) S.A. in W. for payment,

hereby decides to:

discontinue the proceedings on the grounds of Article 182 (1) CCP.

Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw 25th Civil Division of 6th June 2017

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  1. The examination of group membership consists in comparing group members’ individual claims against the standard claim determined in the decision on examining the case in group proceedings.
  2. At the first and second stage of the group proceedings, the defendant should not raise objections aimed at demonstrating illegitimacy of the claims pursued on behalf of the group members. This is because these issues are not the subject of the court’s attention at the first and second stage of a class action. The legitimacy of claims pursued on behalf of particular group members is examined at the third – substantive stage of group proceedings.
  3. The division of group members into subgroups based only on the parameter of the amount of pursued claims is admissible.

The Regional Court in Warsaw 25th Civil Division in the following ruling bench:

Presiding Judge: Tomasz Gal, Regional Court Judge

Judges: Anna Błażejczyk, Regional Court Judge; Monika Włodarczyk, Regional Court Judge

having examined on 6th June 2017 in Warsaw at the hearing in camera the case in a class action filed by R.D. – the group representative against the State Treasury – General Prosecutor, Regional Public Prosecutor in Gdańsk and District Public Prosecutor G.-W. in G. for payment,

hereby decides to:

establish the composition of subgroups consisting of the following members [43 subgroups].

Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw 25th Civil Division of 31st May 2017

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The Regional Court in Warsaw 25th Civil Division in the following ruling bench:

Krystyna Stawecka, Regional Court Judge

having examined on 31st May 2017 in Warsaw at the hearing in camera in the group action filed by J. K. – group representative against Bank (…) S.A. in W. for payment,

decides to:

suspend the proceedings under Article 174 (1) (1) CCP in conjunction with Article 24 (1) of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings.

Judgment of the Regional Court in Warsaw 24th Civil Division of 10th May 2017

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Non-final judgment.

  1. The provisions concerning the redemption fee/fees for the total redemption of the value of the policy may not be qualified as the main performance of the parties, as they do not affect the essence of the legal transaction. They are therefore subject to assessment as to their abusive nature.
  2. Where the clause relating to the redemption fee/fees for the total redemption of the policy value is found to be abusive and it is impossible to apply the general terms and conditions of the agreement or the general provisions on obligations in that place, the fee should be returned pursuant to the provisions on undue performance – Article 410 of the Polish Civil Code.
  3. There is no doubt that the payment of commissions to agents cooperating with the defendant constitutes a kind of obligation (…) which results from the business activity conducted. Therefore, under the quoted provision the use of funds from the fees collected for this purpose does not constitute consumption or loss of enrichment. By paying commissions from the fees, the defendant released itself from the obligation to pay, which was incumbent thereon as an entrepreneur. It cannot, therefore, be considered that it is no longer enriched in that regard.

Decision of the Regional Court in Krakow 1st Civil Division of 20th April 2017

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The Regional Court in Krakow 1st Civil Division with the following ruling bench:

Presiding judge:            Marta Woźniak, Regional Court Judge

Judges:                            Agnieszka Włodyga, Regional Court Judge

                                         Ewa Olszewska, Regional Court Judge

having examined on 20th April 2017 in Krakow at the hearing the group action filed by Z. R. acting as the representative of the group consisting of: [data of 27 group members] against the State Treasury – Voivode Ś., Director of the Regional Board for Water Management in K.; the Ś. Voivodeship; the Poviat of S.; the Municipality of S., for establishment,

decides to:

change point 1 of the decision of the Regional Court in Krakow 1st Civil Division of 6 September 2013 by determining that M. S. is excluded from the composition of the group.

Judgment of the Regional Court in Katowice 2nd Civil Division of 12th April 2017

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  1. Under Article 4 (1) of the Polish Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, the representative of the group is the person filing the action. Thus, the representative of the group, who filed the action on behalf of the group members, is a claimant in the procedural meaning, whereas the group members are claimants in the substantive meaning.
  2. Under Article 17 (1) of the Polish Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, the Court issues a decision on composition of the group. The doctrine indicates that decision on the composition of the group is of a constitutive nature. Thus the membership in the group is not created by declarations on joining the group submitted by individuals, but by the issuance of the Court’s decision on the composition of the group’ establishes its composition in a class action.
  3. There is no need to examine the claim of a group member who passed away before the decision establishing the group composition was rendered.
  4. It seems admissible to broaden the demand of the statement of claims by claims of further persons, because it does not obligate the Court to establish the group membership anew. As a result of such broadening, the already validly established composition of the group is not changed.
  5. The pursuit of a cash claim on the basis of Article 2 (3) shall be broken down into two stages: the first one as a class action for establishment and the second as individual actions for payment.
  6. It should be emphasized that when only demanding the establishing of the defendant’s liability under Article 2 (3) of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings, the claimant also needs to formulate a cash claim, the pursuing of which in later individual proceedings is aimed at determining defendant’s liability and this liability in group proceedings must be established in reference to a cash claim the performance of which group members seek from the defendant.

Judgment of the Regional Court in Katowice 2nd Civil Division in the following ruling bench:

Presiding Judge: Agata Stankiewicz-Rataj, Regional Court Judge

Judges: Anna Bogaczyk-Żyłka, Regional Court Judge, Lech Skórski, Regional Court Judge

having examined on 12th April 2017 in Katowice at a hearing the case filed by M. G. – the group representative, also acting for members of the group: (…) against Housing Cooperative (…) in B. for the establishment of the invalidity of the agreements and for payment

hereby decides to:

  1. dismiss the action
  2. abstain from charging the claimant with the obligation to reimburse the defendant for the costs of proceedings.

Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw 1st Civil Division of 15th March 2017

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The Regional Court in Warsaw 1st Civil Division in the following ruling bench:

Andrzej Kuryłek, Regional Court Judge

Alicja Fronczyk, Regional Court Judge

Jacek Bajak, Regional Court Judge

having examined on 15th March 2017 in Warsaw at the hearing the case filed by the Municipal  Consumer Ombudsman in O. against Bank (…) S.A. with its registered office in W. for the establishment [of the defendant’s liability]

decides to:

examine the case in group proceedings.

Decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw 25th Civil Division dated 7th March 2017

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The Regional Court in Warsaw, 25th Civil Division with the following ruling bench:

Presiding Judge: Sylwia J. Łuczak, Regional Court Judge

Judges: Anna Błażejczyk Regional Court Judge; Tomasz Gal Regional Court Judge

having examined on 7th March 2017 in Warsaw at the hearing in group proceedings of the case filed by the Municipal Consumer Ombudsman in City Hall S. (representative of the group) against (…) joint stock company with the registered office in W. for payment or, potentially, for establishment of a legal relation or right,

decides to:

  1. Under Article 11(1) of the Act of 17th December 2009 on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings to order a single publication of an announcement on the commencement of group proceedings with the content as follows:

“The group proceedings initiated by the statement of claims filed by the Municipal Consumer Ombudsman in City Hall S. (…) against (…) joint stock company with its registered office in W., file ref. no. XXV C 915/14 are pending before the Regional Court in Warsaw 25th Civil Division

The Municipal Consumer Ombudsman in City Hall S. as the group representative motions for:

1) ordering the Defendant – (…) joint stock company, to return the amounts collected from the group members without a legal basis as a liquidation fee on the grounds of unlawful clauses included in the life insurance contracts with insurance capital funds, concluded between the members of the group and the Defendant.

2) alternatively, a declaration that the Defendant – (…) joint stock company is liable towards the group members on the grounds of unjust enrichment due to the fact that members of the group performed invalid life insurance contracts with insurance capital funds. (…)

  1. The above-indicated announcement shall be published in the Rzeczpospolita national daily in the announcement and tenders section, in black font 32 (4×8) 165 mm x 329.6mm.

Decision of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw 6th Civil Division of 16th February 2017

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  1. The examination of the case in the group proceedings is allowed only after cumulative satisfaction of the premises of such proceedings, including: homogeneity of the group members’ claims, equal or identical factual basis of the group members’ claims, number of the group members, standardization of pecuniary claims, subjective capacity of the claims to be examined in group proceedings.
  2. The requirement of the same factual basis does not mean that all factual circumstances must be identical with respect to each member of the group, because always, even in the case of the same factual basis, there are individual circumstances which refer to particular group members. The factual basis of the claim consists in facts which substantiate the claimant’s demand, therefore, that basis must include facts primarily substantiating the legal relations which are the subject of the statement of claims.

The Court of Appeals in Warsaw 6th Civil Division in the following ruling bench:

Marek Kolasiński, Court of Appeals Judge

Mariusz Łodko, Court of Appeals Judge

Magdalena Sajur-Kordula, Court of Appeals Judge

having examined on 16th February 2017 in Warsaw at the hearing in camera the case filed by the Municipal Consumer Ombudsman in O. against Bank (…) S.A. in W. for payment, following the defendant’s complaint against the decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw of 13th  September 2016, case file no. III C 1089/15,

decides to:

dismiss the complaint.

 

The decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw 3rd Civil Division dated 24th January 2017

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  1. Re-tendering by the defendant on the grounds of Article 15 of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings a claim regarding membership of specific members of the group or subgroups, the same claims having been previously considered by the Court of Appeals following an appeal against the Regional Court’s decision on rejecting the action rendered as a result of these claims, which the Court of Appeals did not eventually deem legitimate, is entirely unjustified, due to which the said Court passed the case to be heard in group proceedigns.

The Regional Court in Warsaw 3rd Civil Division in the following ruling bench:

Presiding Judge:       Grzegorz Chmiel, Regional Court Judge

Judges:                       Joanna Bitner, Regional Court Judge, Ewa Jończyk, Regional Court Judge

having examined on 24th January 2017 in W. at the hearing in camera the case filed by K.K. – the representative of the group and members of the group:

subgroup no. I: [3 group members];

subgroup no. II: [3 group members];

subgroup no. III: [4 group members];

subgroup no. IV: [2 group members];

subgroup no. V: [3 group members];

subgroup no. VI: [3 group members];

subgroup no. VII: [3 group members];

subgroup no. VIII: [3 group members];

subgroup no. IX: [3 group members];

subgroup no. X: [2 group members];

subgroup no. XI: [2 group members]

against the Housing Association (…) with the registered office in W.

for payment

on re-establishing membership of the group under Article 17 (1) of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings

hereby decides to:

on the grounds of Article 17 (1) of the Act on Pursuing Claims in Group Proceedings to establish the following membership of the group:

1. subgroup no. I with the following members – [3 group members];

2. subgroup no. II with the following members – [3 group members];

3. subgroup no. III with the following members – [4 group members];

4. subgroup no. IV with the following members – [2 group members];

5. subgroup no. V with the following members – [3 group members];

6. subgroup no. VI with the following members – [3 group members];

7. subgroup no. VII with the following members – [3 group members];

8. subgroup no. VIII with the following members – [3 group members];

9. subgroup no. IX with the following members – [3 group members];

10. subgroup no. X with the following members – [2 group members];

11. subgroup no. XI with the following members – [2 group members].