If a civil trial makes it impossible for a party to defend their rights, the proceedings will simply become invalid. And it is irrelevant whether and how that situation can affect the judgment. The Supreme Court reminded us of that when considering a complaint from the Commissioner for Human Rights about infringement of those rights.

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“The court is obliged to serve procedural documents and copies of decisions to the address indicated by the party. Where correspondence is sent to a different address from that indicated as the current one, and then, due to the non-receipt of the letter, the court leaves its status in the case files as delivered, the party should first file with the court a petition for correct service of such correspondence,” explains Przemysław Barchan, lawyer at FKA Furtek Komosa Aleksandrowicz.

He goes on to say that only after the correspondence has been successfully delivered should the party take any further action, for example file an appeal in the case of decisions delivered. The Code of Civil Procedure provides that even if there is a final judgment, the invalidity of the proceedings due to the lack of possibility to defend one’s rights is grounds to conduct them once again. All that is necessary is to lodge a complaint applying for resuming the proceedings within 3 months of the time when the party, a body or a statutory representative of the party became aware of the judgment.

“We need to remember that where an entity entered in the National Court Register is a party to proceedings and it is impossible to deliver court correspondence to the address indicated in that register, the correspondence is recorded in the case files as delivered,” adds Przemysław Barchan.

He also reminds us that lack of possibility to serve individuals who conduct business activity at the address given in the Central Registration and Information on Business will have the same effect from 8 September. © Ⓟ

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Iwona Jackowska (Puls Biznesu)