Proces cywilny w „nowym wydaniu”: prawno-historycznych uwag kilka w związku z nowelizacją kodeksu postępowania cywilnego (z dnia 4 lipca 2019 r.) i komentarzami doktryny

Abstract

The article aims to formulate a legal-historical voice in the discussion about the amendment of the code of civil procedure (4 July 2019) and comments on the doctrine. Regulations introduced to the code on 4 July 2019 were under comprehensive discussion also in the interwar period. The pioneering concepts developed at that time concerned primarily: an obligatory reply to the statement of claim and preparatory proceedings, an obligation to tell the truth, the discretionary power of a judge, and abuse of the procedural rights clause. These original regulations were removed from the first Polish Code of Civil Procedure draft as too innovative for those times. However, the unrealized ideas of experts and their sources resulting from the preparatory materials are often much more valuable for studying the civil process than the adopted act. After reading the justification of the draft amendment of July 4, 2019, and the comments on the doctrine, one cannot help but feel that these gains of interwar science have been kept silent. The institutions introduced by the Act of 4 July 2019 were characterized as a manifestation of legal creationism and a manifestation of the hypertrophy of effectiveness in relation to the guarantee of a fair trial. Therefore, to discuss the recent actions of the legislator in reforming civil proceedings, it is worth adding a few remarks from the legal-historical perspective and comparative history of law, as they generally concern concepts and institutions that were designed almost 100 years ago.