Table of contents:
- How have the changes in the institution of summons to conciliation proceedings evolved over recent years?
- Introduced changes
The amendment to the Act on court costs in civil cases, which came into force on September 28, 2023, aims to once again enhance the attractiveness of the institution of summons to conciliation proceedings.
How have the changes in the institution of summons to conciliation proceedings evolved over recent years?
Under the Act of July 4, 2019, amending the Code of Civil Procedure and certain other acts, effective August 21, 2019, the legislature significantly increased the court fee for summonses to conciliation proceedings. Prior to the amendment, these costs were 40 PLN for summonses in cases with a claim value up to 10,000.00 PLN, and 300 PLN for cases where the claim value exceeded 10,000.00 PLN. Following the aforementioned amendment, the fee for summonses to conciliation proceedings was transformed into a proportional fee amounting to 1/5 of the fee due for the lawsuit in cases exceeding a general threshold of 2,000,000.00 PLN, resulting in a fee of 40,000.00 PLN. The increase in the fee for summonses to conciliation proceedings was motivated by numerous abuses of this institution in everyday business, primarily its use to interrupt the statute of limitations rather than a genuine intent to settle disputes amicably.
Despite the rise in fees, summonses to conciliation proceedings continued to attract significant interest in practice. The increase in fees did not significantly impact the number of settlements reached, as summonses to conciliation proceedings were still primarily used to interrupt the statute of limitations. Therefore, on June 30, 2022, under the Act of December 2, 2021, amending the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, and certain other acts, the legislature decided to change the effect of summonses to conciliation proceedings from interrupting the statute of limitations to suspending the statute of limitations during the conciliation proceedings.
As a result of this change, summonses to conciliation proceedings, considering their costs and effects, became an unattractive institution that essentially disappeared from common courts.
Introduced changes
By the Act amending the Code of Civil Procedure, the Act on the structure of common courts, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and certain other acts dated July 7, 2023, the legislature decided to once again enhance the attractiveness of the institution of summonses to conciliation proceedings by significantly reducing their costs in property cases. These costs, under the newly introduced Article 23a, are as follows:
a) In cases where the value of the subject matter of the dispute does not exceed 20,000.00 PLN, the fixed fee is 120 PLN.
b) In cases where the value of the subject matter of the dispute exceeds 20,000.00 PLN, the fixed fee is 300 PLN.
For non-property rights cases, the current fee remains unchanged at 1/5 of the lawsuit fee, but not less than 100 PLN.
However, it appears that despite the change in the effect of summonses to conciliation proceedings and the introduced fee reductions, these adjustments may not lead to a significant increase in interest in the institution of summonses to conciliation proceedings.
