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FAQ

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When does a Polish court examine the case?

A general rule under Polish law is that a Polish court has jurisdiction to hear a case if:

• the defendant has a domicile, a place of residence or a registered seat in Poland at the moment when the statement of claim is served;
• the defendant has some property or property rights in Polish territory;
• the case concerns an object situated in Poland or a legal relationship that was initiated in Poland.

However, it must be noted that the provisions of the CCP are only applied provided that international agreements do not regulate the matter in a different manner. International conventions always precede internal regulations in this respect, for example Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 and the Lugano Convention of 16 September 1988 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.

If a judgment of a court can somehow affect the ownership of real estate situated in Poland, according to the CCP, the Polish courts have exclusive jurisdiction over the case regardless of the nationality of the defendant. This jurisdiction cannot be modified by the parties. On the other hand, if a judgment of a court can affect the ownership of real estate situated outside the territory of Poland, the jurisdiction of Polish courts is excluded.

According to Polish law, a court which has jurisdiction to consider a case has no right to refuse to consider it on the basis that the courts of another state have a closer connection to it (i.e. Polish courts have no discretion to apply the doctrine of forum non conveniens).

This regulation is mainly connected with the requirement of certainty and reliability of law. The doctrine of forum non conveniens is likely to cause negative jurisdictional conflicts and does not guarantee to the parties that the court which has jurisdiction on a case will consider it.

A consequence of lack of jurisdiction of the court that issued a judgment is its nullity.

Lack of jurisdiction is taken into consideration by a court upon the application of a party, however, a court is also obliged by law to verify its own jurisdiction ex officio. For this reason a plea of lack of jurisdiction can be considered by a court at any stage of the proceedings and the requirement to raise all pleas, claims and arguments in the first pleading does not apply to it.

If a court finds that a plea of lack of jurisdiction is justified or establishes this fact on its own, it rejects the statement of claim and issues a decision to discontinue the proceedings. This decision can be appealed according to general rules set forth in the CCP.

It should be noted that if jurisdiction exists at the moment of filing of the statement of claim it extends throughout the whole of the proceedings (perpetuatio fori).