Extraordinary Complaint in Civil Proceedings under Polish Law

Abstract

The system of appeal measures in civil proceedings under the Polish law has been subject to profound evolution over the years. The Supreme Court Law of 8 December 2017 has introduced a new legal measure called the extraordinary complaint, which allows rebuttal of final judgments terminating respective proceedings. Extraordinary complaint examination has been entrusted to the newly established Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs Chamber of the Supreme Court. Literature has referred to this extraordinary measure of appeal as a total instrument with considerable material and temporal scope, allowing contestation of final judgements regardless of whether any legal measures had been applied in the course of respective proceedings and the type of measures used. Although parties to civil proceedings have gained another extraordinary measure of appeal, they have no real influence over its application. The expansion of the extraordinary appeal measures catalogue in Polish civil law proceedings has triggered multiple reservations as to the connection between parallel complaints. One should not assume a priori that the new extraordinary measure of appeal shall destabilise the legal system in Poland – albeit certain operational distortions seem realistic.