Pursuing monetary claims has not been a challenge since today. The need to draft a lawsuit with strict formal requirements, pay a lawsuit fee and then appear at a hearing effectively discourages some people from taking such steps.
With help comes electronic writ-of-payment proceedings (hereafter referred to as “EPU”). To use the EPU, all you need is access to a computer and the Internet. These proceedings are regulated in the Code of Civil Procedure in Art. 50528 – Art. 50537. Only monetary claims that became due within three years before the date of the lawsuit can be asserted in the EPU.
The main advantage of the EPU is that it allows claims to be asserted without having to appear in court. You can file a lawsuit yourself or through a professional attorney after creating an account and then logging on to the e-Court website(https://www.e-sad.gov.pl). The lawsuit is submitted using an electronic form that makes it much easier to construct. It is not necessary to attach any evidence to the lawsuit – just describe it. Subsequently, communication between the plaintiff and the e-Court is exclusively electronic. The defendant, on the other hand, can file an objection to the payment order within 14 days, with a choice of traditional or electronic communication.
In addition, the benefits of the EPU also include lowering the cost of the proceedings and speeding them up. A lawsuit filed via a form on the e-Court website is charged ¼ of the fee paid in ordinary proceedings, i.e. 1.25% of the value of the monetary claim asserted in the suit, but not less than PLN 30 (Article 19(2)(2) in conjunction with Article 20(1) of the Law on Court Costs in Civil Cases). A payment order, on the other hand, can be issued in as little as a few days.
If doubts arise on your part as to how a lawsuit in electronic writ of payment proceedings should look like, what fee should be paid on it, or perhaps you have recently received a payment order issued by the e-Court and would like to file an effective objection to it, we invite you to contact us. We will be happy to support you in these matters. This will leave you with peace of mind that your affairs are in the right hands.
The author of the entry is trainee attorney Boris Ceglowski.