Abstract

This article discusses the new rules of evidentiary proceedings in civil cases introduced by the Act of 16 September 2011 on the amendment of the Code of Civil Procedure and several other laws (Journal of Laws No. 233, item 1381), effective as of 3 May 2012, with particular focus on proceedings in commercial cases. The legislator departed from the preclusive model in favour of the discretionary powers of a judge (court). Nevertheless, the new rules for conducting evidentiary proceedings are extremely controversial and most lawyer doubt whether they will contribute to attaining the main goal of the amendment, i.e. to accelerate civil proceedings.

The first part of the article outlines new rules for the statement of claims and presentation of evidence in civil proceedings, which are provided for in Art. 6, 207, 217, 344, 493, 504 of the Code.

In the second part, cases of permissibility of stating new claims and presenting new evidence in preparatory documents and in the course of a trial are analysed. Special consideration was given to the circumstances which allow for delayed statement of claims and presentation of evidence, such as: absence of guilt, causing no delay in considering the case, or existence of other extraordinary circumstances.

The third part provides a conclusion, pointing out to many defects of the new act. It was noted that the new rules for conducting evidentiary proceedings are unclear, while the circumstances allowing for delayed statement of claims and presentation of evidence may be misinterpreted because of their ambiguity, especially in the present situation of common courts. The author claims that in commercial cases in particular replacement of the preclusive model with discretionary power of a judge will not speed up the proceedings.