Authority

Poland - Central Authority (Art. 2) and practical information

Central Authority(ies):

Ministry of Justice

Contact details:
Address: Ministry of Justice (Ministerstwo Sprawiedliwości)
Departament Współpracy Międzynarodowej i Praw Człowieka
Al. Ujazdowskie 11
00-950 Warsaw
P.O. Box 33
Poland
Telephone: +48 22 23 90 870
Fax: +48 22 62 80 949
E-mail: [email protected]
General website: www.ms.gov.pl
Contact person:  
Languages spoken by staff: Polish, English

 

Practical Information
Blocking statutes:

Yes, there are two European instruments of this nature:

Council Regulation (EC) No 2271/96 of 22 November 1996 protecting against the effects of the extra-territorial application of legislation adopted by a third country, and actions based thereon or resulting therefrom (see, Article 5(1)).

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance)

Chapter I
(Letters of Requests)
Transmission of Letters of Requests: Letters of Request are sent directly from a judicial authority in the requesting State to the Central Authority of the requested State.
Authority responsible for informing of the time and place of the execution of Letter of Request
(Art. 7):		 Judicial authority competent to execute the request.
Presence of judicial personnel at the execution of the Letter of Request (Art. 8): Declaration of applicability. See Competent Authority.
Privileges and duties existing under the law of States other than the State of origin and the State of execution
(Art. 11):		 No declaration of applicability.
Translation requirements
Arts 4(2) and 33):		 Accepts Letters of Requests written in or translated into Polish.
Costs relating to execution of the Letters of Request
(Arts 14(2)(3) and 26):		 Poland seeks reimbursement of costs under Art. 14(2).
Time for execution: Between 2 and 6 months approximately.
Pre-trial discovery of documents
Art. 23):		 Letter of Request will not be executed (full exclusion).
Information about domestic rules on the taking of evidence:  European Judicial Network in Civil or Commercial Matters - Poland.

Witness examination under Chapter I
Should Letters of Request include specific questions to be used during witness examination or only a list of matters to be addressed? Only a list of matters to be addressed is required.
Is it a public or private hearing? Public hearing.
Do the judicial authorities "blue-pencil" Letters of Requests (i.e. rephrase, restructure and / or strike out objectionable questions or offensive wording so that a Letter of Request may be executed under the laws of the requested State)? No.
Is the witness provided in advance with a copy of the questions / matters to be addressed as contained in the Letter of Request? No.
Are documents produced by the witness authenticated by the court? No.
Is an oath generally administered to the witness? Yes.
Can the witness be made subject to further examination and recall? Yes but a second request is necessary.
Are there sanctions for non-appearance of witness? According to article 274 of the Polish Code of Civil Procedure, the court shall fine the witness for an unjustified non-appearance, then it shall summon him again and, in the event of repeated non-appearance, it shall fine him again and may order him to be brought forcibly to the court.
Must interpreters who assist with the witness examination be court-certified? Yes.
How is the testimony transcribed? Under Polish law, the testimony is transcribed in the minutes of the court session. In some instances, it may also be recorded by audio device.

Chapter II
(Taking of evidence by diplomatic officers, consular agents and commissioners)
Article 15 Applicable.
Article 16 Not applicable. See declarations.
Article 17 Not applicable. See declarations.
Article 18 Not applicable. See declarations.

Taking of evidence by video-links
(under either chapter)

Chapter I
Are there legal obstacles to the use of video links? No.
Technology used: No information available.
Level of interpretation required: No information available.
Simultaneous or in sequence interpretation: No information available.
Interpretation required in which jurisdiction? No information available.
Who pays for the interpretation? No information available.
How would a request for evidence be handled if witness not willing? No information available.

Chapter II
Are there legal obstacles to the use of video links? No.
Technology used: No information available.
Level of interpretation required: No information available.
Simultaneous or in sequence interpretation: No information available.
Interpretation required in which jurisdiction? No information available.
Who pays for the interpretation? No information available.

Other Information
Bilateral or multilateral agreements

Bilateral conventions on judicial co-operation: Australia, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

Bilateral - Convention between His Majesty, in respect of the United Kingdom, and the President of the Polish Republic regarding Legal Proceedings in Civil and Commercial Matters - signed on 26 August 1931 in Warsaw, in force on 31 May 1932.

Regulation (EU) 2020/1783 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil or commercial matters (taking of evidence)(recast)
Useful links:  
Competent authorities (Art. 8, 15) See here.
Additional authorities (Art. 24, 27a) See here.

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Conventions (incl. Protocols and Principles)