<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>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.</p>
</abstract>

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.

Second Instance Court’s Bench Composition in Civil Proceedings

Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Law of the Faculty of Law and Administration of Lazarski University, Judge of the District Court in Warsaw

Ius Novum

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Second Instance Court\u2019s Bench Composition in Civil Proceedings"}

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...

Second Instance Court’s Bench Composition in Civil Proceedings

Published Online: Mar 01, 2023

Page range: 125 - 146

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26399/iusnovum.v16.2.2022.17-a.lazarska

Keywords
bench composition, one-person composition, collective composition, judicial independence, order of a court president, invalidity of a bench composition, invalidity of a proceeding

© 2022 Lazarski University, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Second Instance Court’s Bench Composition in Civil Proceedings

Published Online: Mar 01, 2023

Page range: 125 - 146

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26399/iusnovum.v16.2.2022.17-a.lazarska

Keywordsbench composition, one-person composition, collective composition, judicial independence, order of a court president, invalidity of a bench composition, invalidity of a proceeding

© 2022 Lazarski University, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keywords
bench composition, one-person composition, collective composition, judicial independence, order of a court president, invalidity of a bench composition, invalidity of a proceeding