Is the State Treasury liable for poor snow removal from the roads?
Under Art. 417 of the Civil Code, the State Treasury is liable for injury caused in exercise of public authority. It’s usually not too hard to determine whether the state is acting as a party to civil dealings and when it is exercising authoritative competencies. Nonetheless, there are some activities of public entities that are not clearly authoritative but should be deemed to be the exercise of public authority, the Supreme Court of Poland held in its judgment of 6 June 2014 (Case III CSK 211/13).
Public authorities’ liability for damages
The topic of liability for damages on the part of public authorities is not widely known. Many people are not aware of the extensive rights at their disposal connected with actions by bodies of public authority. Consequently, injured parties often fail to pursue redress of losses suffered in connection with public administration.
The king can do wrong
It used to be accepted that the sovereign is infallible, and questioning the correctness of the sovereign’s decisions was bound to end badly. Today, fortunately for the people, there are instruments for holding the authorities liable for their wrongful acts and omissions.
Liability of the State Treasury for injury caused by violation of EU law
It is theoretically possible to pursue damages from the State Treasury for injury caused by violation of EU law, such as non-implementation of directives. But procedural difficulties discourage most litigants from taking this path.
Liability of public authorities in the real estate development process
The real estate development business relies on decisions issued by administrative authorities for architectural and construction matters. The development process follows a number of successive phases, and only after positive completion of one phase can the process move on to the next phase.
Excessive length of proceedings and its consequences
The liability of public authorities for unlawful acts or omissions also extends to delay in the functioning of the courts, infringing the individual’s right to have his case heard without undue delay. A finding of excessive length of proceedings enables a party to pursue redress of the resulting loss through the courts.
Taxation of interest awarded against the State Treasury
Damages won from the State Treasury are exempt from personal income tax. Does this exemption also apply to statutory interest awarded in a legally final judgment?
Claims for damages for administrative inaction
Failure to consider a decree application can be grounds for public entities to make up the loss for depriving the owners of rights to land in Warsaw.
Damages for unlawful nationalisation may be sought through the courts
The Polish Supreme Court has upheld the possibility of seeking damages through the courts for nationalised property…
State Treasury's liability for violation of EU regulations
A beneficiary of EU Structural Funds that violates procedures and has to repay the funding because of a failure by Polish state authorities to implement EU regulations properly may seek damages from the State Treasury.
A conference of errors
On 24 June 2010 the Institute of Criminal Law at the University of Warsaw hosted a conference entitled “Judicial Errors in Criminal Proceedings.”
