The aim of the article is to discuss the effects of the amendment to Code of Civil Procedure introduced by Act of 28 May 2021 within the scope of a change of a court bench composition in appeal proceedings. The new solutions are controversial and in some aspects interfere with the principle of judicial independence. By reversing the principle of a collective composition in favour of a one-person composition, there were insufficient guarantees for the continuation of the so-called unchanged bench composition for old cases, which may violate the principle of invariability of a bench composition. Secondly, entrusting a decision on a court composition to a court president that is an administrative body did not provide sufficient guarantees for respect for judicial independence. A court president’s decision on whether it is necessary to designate a bench due to the complexity or precedent-like nature of a case also raises objections. It is not within a court president’s competence to assess a nature of a case on which a judge adjudicates. On the other hand, classified conditions for establishing collective benches cause that the discussed regulation will be very rarely applied.