Abstract

The Act of 10 September 2015 on amendments to certain acts in connection with providing support to amicable methods of dispute resolution, which introduced, inter alia, numerous changes to the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure regulating the mediation process (Art. 183¹-183¹⁵ of the Code of Civil Procedure) became effective as of 1 January 2016. Those changes are discussed in this article – although they have been welcomed by the doctrine, nevertheless they cause many practical problems. The new regulation also gives rise to a doubt whether mediation in the Polish civil procedure is actually still fully voluntary and whether it will not negatively affect the constitutional right of citizens to trial. The article aims at indicating the practical problems, looking at mediation under the new legal regime from the viewpoint of the fundamental mediation principle of voluntariness, as well as evaluating the effect of the amended regulations on citizens’ right to have a case fairly and openly tried by a competent, independent and impartial court without unjustified delay.