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Poland
What types of court fee are collected?
What happens if I fail to pay on time?
Introduction
Fees in civil proceedings are governed by the Court Costs (Civil Cases) Act of 28 July 2005 (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2014, item 1025). As a rule, a fee is payable for any statement of claim lodged, including claims lodged as part of proceedings governed by Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 creating a European order for payment procedure ( 'the EOP'). Polish law provides for the possibility of lodging a request for exemption from these costs in the aforementioned Act (Title IV – Exemption from court costs).
What types of court fee are collected?
The fee applicable in the case of the EOP is a proportional fee.
How much should I pay?
A proportional fee is collected for cases concerning property rights and amounts to 5% of the amount of the dispute (i.e. the amount specified in the statement of claim); however, it cannot be less than PLN 30 or more than PLN 100 000. In the case of a request for the EOP to be set aside, half of the fee is collected.
What happens if I fail to pay on time?
Pursuant to Article 1262(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure of 17 November 1964 (Journal of Laws No 43, item 269, as amended), the court will not take any action in response to a procedural document for which the applicable fee has not been paid. In other words, the fee must be paid when a procedural document (statement of claim) is filed with the court of appropriate jurisdiction or an application for exemption from court costs must be filed.
The procedural consequences of failing to pay fees for a procedural document are specified, in Articles 130 and 1302 of the Code of Civil Procedure amongst others.
Pursuant to Article 130 of the Code of Civil Procedure, if the procedural document (incl. the statement of claim) cannot be processed as a result of non-payment of the fee, the presiding judge calls on the party to make that payment within one week, failing which the procedural document is returned. If the procedural document has been lodged by a person living abroad who has no appointed representative in Poland, the presiding judge will specify a time limit for paying the fee, which may not be shorter than one month. If the fee is not paid within the specified time limit, the procedural document is returned to the party. If the fee is paid within the specified time limit, the procedural document produces legal effects from the date on which it was lodged.
Pursuant to Article 1302 of the Code of Civil Procedure, a procedural document lodged by a lawyer or patent attorney which has not been paid for is returned without a call for payment if the fee is fixed or proportional to the amount of the dispute as specified by the party. However, if the fee for the procedural document is paid within one week of service of the decision to return the document, the document produces legal effects from the date on which it was lodged.
How to pay a court fee
The arrangements for paying court fees in civil cases are governed by the Ordinance of the Minister for Justice of 31 January 2006 setting out the arrangements for paying court fees in civil cases (Journal of Laws No 27, item 199), which is implementing legislation for the aforementioned Court Costs (Civil Cases) Act.
Court fees in civil cases can be paid in non-cash form into the current account of the court with jurisdiction (account details can be obtained directly from the court or its website or from the website of the Ministry of Justice), directly at the court cashier's office or in the form of court fee stamps which can be purchased at the court cashier's office.
What to do next?
Once the fees have been paid and any irregularities resolved, the court will issue an European order for payment.
Last update:
26/02/2020
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