The court shall impose interest on a dishonest business partner ex officio

In the broader context of fighting payment backlogs in the Polish economy, the Ministry of Entrepreneurship is working to change fast-track proceedings for payment. In cases with a value of up to PLN 75k, it will not be necessary for the plaintiff to prove delivery of the contracted benefit, e.g. by presenting an acceptance of delivery protocol. Moreover, the courts will be able to award interest acting ex officio. Lawyers view this as a bad idea.

The Polish Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology is amending art. 485 of the Civil Process Code which concerns simplified proceedings for payment injunctions. The draft legislative Act regarding amendment of certain acts for the purpose of reducing payment delays now includes par. 2b whereunder, in the case of claims not exceeding PLN 75,000, the court may issue an injunction for payment on the basis of:

• A contract presented along with the statement of claim;
• Proof of delivery of the invoice (bill) to the debtor;
• Reasonable substantiation by the plaintiff of the probability that a mutual benefit has been provided.

In this way, the authors of this proposal would lower the bar with respect to one of the prerequisites of obtaining a payment injunction in fast-track proceedings in that, if this proposal becomes law, it will be sufficient for the plaintiff to substantiate the probability that he duly delivered, rather than to prove so. Moreover, in accordance with the added par. 2c, the court will automatically calculate and award the interest due to the debtor. These proposals are touted as promising to reduce rampant late payments and to streamline enforcement of receivables. While the former proposal has been generally accepted by the legal community, the latter has been sharply criticised (…)

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