Abstract

In the commented judgment of 13 December 2012 (IV CSK 204/12), the Supreme Court found that the party acquiring real property may not refer to a mistake as to the legal status of the property (Art. 84 of the Civil Code) if they failed to verify its status in the land and mortgage register. The decision generally deserves to be approved, though there are further issues which should be considered, such as the possibility of purchaser’s referring in such a situation to have been deceived by the seller (Art. 86 of the Civil Code) or seller’s liability for culpa in contrahendo . Moreover, further arguments presented by the Supreme Court in the statement of the grounds that the mistake of the plaintiffs (purchasers of the property) was of an inexcusable nature should be criticized. Under the existing laws failure to exercise due carr is not a premise excluding permissibility of referring to the defect of a declaration of will. The author also analyzed the position of the Court as concerns the possibility of avoiding the consequences of a defective declaration by a representative without a separate power of attorney to make substantive law declarations (Art. 91 of the Civil Code).