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POLISH SUPPORT MECHANISMS AGAINST COVID-19

Similar to other countries, the Polish government is also trying to counter the extreme consequences of Covid 19 and to keep the economy functioning properly. All such measures are known in Poland as the anti-crisis shield, which has also undergone several changes and updates.

However, one must keep in mind that these funding mechanisms are aimed at particularly affected economic sectors. Many of these funds are primarily aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises. It is also important that the grants are determined not according to the actual salaries of the workers, but according to the minimum wage or the general average wage.

Regarding remuneration subsidies, entrepreneurs who have experienced a decline in turnover can apply for such subsidies from the Fund for Guaranteed Employee Benefits (Fundusz Gwarantowanych Świadczeń Pracowniczych).

The Polish Agency for Industrial Development (Agencja Rozwoju Przemysłu SA) offers many repayable financial grants, such as loans, guarantees, sureties or leasing (https://www.arp-tarcza.pl).

Although the current difficult times require a quick and efficient approach, it is sometimes difficult to assert yourself with the bureaucracy and to have the funding application processed immediately. The many requirements as well as the rather complicated documents do not make the process uncomplicated.

Our team of Polish lawyers can assist you in these processes and assist you in dealing with the Polish authorities.

Objection of offsetting according to the new rule of the Polish civil procedure law 2019

introduction

Our law firm's many years of litigation experience show that the defense of offsetting, in addition to the statute of limitations and the violation of common decency, is one of the most frequent defenses against a well-founded lawsuit in Poland. With the set-off, the defendant tries to lead the process partly on a different track and to defend itself against the plaintiff with a counterclaim.

With the last major amendment to the Polish Code of Civil Procedure on July 4, 2019, the Polish legislature significantly restricted the admissibility of this objection. In order to present the changes more clearly, this article makes a brief reference to the old legal situation and at the same time describes the relevant changes.

Old legal situation

In the old legal situation, the defendant had the opportunity to assert any claim against the plaintiff in the offsetting process. Such a claim only had to meet the requirements of substantive law, ie the Polish Civil Code. The following requirements of art. 498 of the Polish Civil Code means:

1. both parties are debtors and creditors of the other party at the same time;

2. the mutual claims have the same form (monetary claim or generic debt of the same kind);

3. the mutual claims are due;

4. Both claims may be asserted before the court.

If the defendant is entitled to such a claim against the plaintiff and if this claim is sufficiently proven, the objection of offsetting will develop its effect in the process and the legal consequence of offsetting will occur, ie the lower claim will expire.

New legal situation

The new legal situation significantly limits the admissibility of such an objection. In addition to the requirements of substantive law, the set-off is subject to additional requirements of procedural law, namely:

5. Requirements of substantive law from points 1-4 above;

6. Alternative prerequisites for procedural set-off:

a. the defendant's claim arises from the same legal relationship as the plaintiff's claim; or

b. the defendant's claim is undisputed; or

c. the defendant's claim is proven by means of a document that does not originate solely from the defendant.

As you can see, all possible claims of the defendant are excluded from the group of permissible offsets within the framework of civil procedure law. The range of such objections is clearly restricted. Even if the defendant is not allowed to set off his claim, he still has the option of initiating separate proceedings against his plaintiff and making the plaintiff a defendant in this new procedure.

Conclusions

The new structure of the defense of offsetting is intended to accelerate processes. Thanks to this amendment, the court will only focus on claims that either:

· Are closely related, ie they result from the same legal relationship; or

· Are undisputed, ie the plaintiff has recognized the defendant's claim and admitted that he is also the debtor of his own debtor (the defendant); or

· They are proven in independent documents, ie the evidence in this context is clearly limited.

This also prevents two disputes from being resolved by the court in a single process, which is often the case nowadays, which made the process inappropriately lengthy and made such proceedings extremely time-consuming. Our Polish lawyers will be happy to advise you in this area of law as well.

Team Kozlowski, Polish law firms don't make the process straightforward.

Our team of Polish lawyers can assist you in these processes and assist you in dealing with the Polish authorities.