Civil litigation under new rules - amendments to the CCP

Civil litigation under new rules - amendments to the CCP

In March 2024, another part of the amendments to the Polish Civil Litigation Rules will come into force, covering, among other things, service through an information portal, the taking of evidence and hearing of witnesses remotely, and the organization of remote hearings. The amendment to the regulations is a kind of confirmation of the practice formed on the basis of the provisions of the law introduced in connection with the pandemic, while the solutions which have been enacted introduce a number of deadlines, the breach of which may have a significant impact on the course of the proceedings.

Remote hearings

The amendment introduces new regulations for remote hearings. As of March 14, 2024, when requesting a remote hearing, we no longer refer to the provision of Article 15 zzs (1)(section 1)(point 1) of the Covid Law, but to the provision of Article 151 § 3 of the CCP. Remote hearings, unlike in the Covid Law, will not be appointed, as it were, automatically. They may be appointed either ex officio or at the request of the person who is to attend the hearing and has indicated an e-mail address. Pursuant to Article 151 § 2 of the CCP, the court may order the conduct of a hearing by means of technical devices that make it possible to conduct the hearing remotely, if the nature of the actions to be performed at the hearing does not prevent this, and the conduct of a remote hearing will guarantee the full protection of the parties' procedural rights and the proper course of the proceedings.

New deadlines for requesting a remote hearing or remote participation in a hearing

A request for a remote hearing must be submitted within 7 days from the date of delivery of either the notice or the summons to the hearing, along with an email address. In addition, already at this stage one can indicate where the person remotely participating in the hearing will be located (e.g., at the office of the law firm). Indeed, it is interesting to note that a person participating in a remote hearing who is outside the court building is obliged to inform the court of the place where he is staying, and make every effort to ensure that the conditions at the place of its stay are in harmony with the dignity of the court and do not constitute an obstacle to the performance of procedural actions with his participation. If the person refuses to provide the indicated information, or if the person's behavior raises reasonable doubts about the proper conduct of actions performed remotely with his participation, the court may call on the person to appear in person in the courtroom. Alternatively, the court may order a remote hearing in such a way that the person will connect remotely from the building of another court.

A request for a remote hearing can be made not only by a party, but also by summoned witnesses. As before, information on whether the court has agreed to remote participation will be communicated in a informalized manner, e.g. by e-mail.

The second new deadline introduced by the amendment is when it is the court that will set a remote hearing and inform participants that they can either appear in the courtroom or notify remote participation in the hearing. Information to the court on whether participation will take place in the courtroom or remotely must be provided no later than 3 business days before the date of the hearing, along with information on the e-mail address. The information can be provided in a informal way, for example, by means of remote communication, as long as they provide certainty about the person making the statement. It would seem, therefore, that the information sent from the e-mail provided in the first pleading should be sufficient.

The 3-day deadline for notifying remote hearing also applies to other persons who wish to participate in the hearing remotely, e.g., a party to the proceedings not summoned to the hearing or an employee of the law firm appearing as an audience). The court is required to send access data for remote hearing min. 24 h before the date of the hearing.

It should be noted that failure to respond to the court's notification of the appointment of the remote hearing (if we have not applied for remote participation in the hearing) means that you must attend the hearing in person at the court premises without an additional summons.

Service through the information portal

The amending law makes it mandatory for barristers and attorneys to have accounts on the court's information portal. As a rule, court writings will be served through the information portal via the "My Service" section, with a deadline of 14 days for receipt. If the letter is not received from the information portal within this period, it will be considered served 14 days after their publication. Importantly, letters from other participants in the proceedings and letters that require the seal of the court to be affixed will not be delivered through the information portal.

In a situation where service is made first through the Information Portal, and then the document is sent again through the postal operator - it should be assumed that the letter was served through the Information Portal, and the hard copy writing should be considered only as additional information. If the letter is served only through the postal operator, then it should have a reference to the withdrawal of service through the Information Portal.

At the same time, the legislature has allowed the review of case files and the providing of copies, copies or excerpts of these files to parties and participants in the proceedings through the information portal.

Conducting evidence remotely and hearing of witnesses by remote hearing

The amendment to the regulations also provides that if the nature of the evidence does not oppose it, the court may decide that it be conducted over distance in a remote hearing. In the request for the taking of evidence, a party may indicate whether it requests that the evidence be taken as part of a remote hearing. Within 7 days of becoming aware of the intention to conduct a hearing of witnesses outside the courtroom as part of a remote hearing, a party may object to it. If the objection is successfully filed, the court will summon the witness to appear in person in the courtroom.

The described changes will come into force starting on March 14, 2024. Hopefully, they will speed up court actions and provide more efficient organization and better access to remote hearings. There is no denying that for the parties and their attorneys, the ability to participate in a remote hearing is a great convenience, especially when the court is several hundred kilometers away from the place of work or residence.

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