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What requirements must a statement of claim meet?

Civil proceedings usually commence by filing a statement of claim. At the moment the statement of claim is filed, court fees must be already paid, or a fee waiver demanded, otherwise the court will summon the plaintiff to pay the fee or will return the statement of claim (if the party is represented by an attorney).

After filing a statement of claim, and dealing with court fees, the court checks whether formal requirements are fulfilled, and if so, serves the claim on the defendant.

Disputes between entrepreneurs are heard in so called commercial proceedings which have a very specific and formal character. The main assumption is that higher standards should be expected of entrepreneurs as professionals. Therefore, the responsibility for the course of the trial is transferred to the parties. The goal of such regulation is to accelerate the recognition of the case and issuance of the judgment. However, it is associated with more formalities and requires a very careful approach in preparing to institute proceedings.

In commercial proceedings all arguments and all accessible evidence have to be submitted in the first pleading, otherwise the plaintiff is deprived of the right to submit them at a later stage in the proceedings. Further evidence may be admitted by a court only if a party could not have presented it earlier and only within two weeks from the moment when the new evidence became accessible to the party. Thus, the plaintiff has to predict the arguments of the defence and present all possible counter arguments at the very beginning of the proceedings.