As of today we know that the courts operate to a limited extend, and hearings in most courts are either cancelled until 15 May 2020 or until the end of May 2020. It is not yet known exactly when the courts will be operating at full capacity again, but some of them already started to plan hearing dates for the second half of May.

The Ministry of Justice is making sure that all cases are returned to the courts again. The  so-called anti-crisis shield 3.0. has created solutions to ensure courts work in the new sanitary regime. The Ministry indicates that trials and open hearings will be conducted in a much broader and changed formula.

What does the sanitary regime look like in case of court hearings in civil procedure?

• A hearing is conducted remotely, unless the conduct of the hearing does not cause an undue health risk to those involved,
• the court may order a hearing in closed session if the  hearing could cause an undue risk to the health of the persons participating in it, and none of the parties will oppose it (the parties have 7 days to object from the date of notice of referral to a hearing in closed session),
• due to special circumstances, the president of the court may order that judges, with the exception of the presiding judge and the clerk, may attend the hearing remotely (they cannot do so at the final hearing),
• where the entire taking of evidence has been carried out, the court may close the hearing and issue a judgment in closed session, after the parties have previously taken their positions in writing,
• in the case of appeals filed before 7 November 2019, the court may hear the case in closed session, without holding an appeal hearing, unless a party has requested it.

It should be noted that the above solutions may be applied during the period of an emergency or epidemic declared due to COVID-19 and within one year of their dismissal.

The Minister for Justice is to lay down the detailed conditions for the system for handling court proceedings so as to ensure a level of security.

The draft of the Anti-crisis shield has now been submitted to the President for signature. On the day following the announcement of the Act, the possibility of remote hearings will enter into force.

Of course, there is always the question whether judges will benefit from the new solutions and whether the Polish judiciary is ready to work remotely.

Author: Karolina Kowalczyk, Trainee Attorney-at-law