by Redaktor | May 30, 2025 | news-en
ATTENTION ! automatic translation from Polish
According to the Supreme Court decision of 12 July 2023 (I USK 316/22), a court decision on separation excludes the widow's right to a family pension under art. 70 sec. 3 u.e.r.f.u.s., unless she had the right to alimony from her husband on the day of his death established by a judgment or court settlement. After the separation decision, the condition for the right to a family pension is to establish that the deceased actually voluntarily supported the spouse, and not only provided mutual assistance (art. 60 sec. 1 or 2 in connection with art. 614 sec. 3 k.r.o. and art. 70 sec. 3 u.e.r.f.u.s.).
by Redaktor | Apr 28, 2025 | news-en
Warning: This is an automated translation from Polish. Accuracy may vary.
According to Article 94 of Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 of June 25, 2019 on jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and matters of parental responsibility and on international child abduction, this regulation replaced for member states the conventions existing at the time of the entry into force of Regulation (ec) No. 2201/2003, concluded between two or more member states and concerning matters governed by this regulation. This includes the agreement with France of April 5, 1967.
This is indirectly confirmed by the Supreme Court's judgment of May 28, 2014. (I CSK 330/13), which referred to the former Council Regulation (EC) No. 2201/2003 of November 27, 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and in matters of parental responsibility.
The Supreme Court noted, however, that cases involving matrimonial property relations do not fall within the scope of any of the legal acts that make up the European Union's regulations on national jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, and in this per
by Redaktor | Mar 4, 2025 | news-en
According to the Supreme Court judgment of 23 September 1974 (III CRN 188/74), Article 59 of the Family and Guardianship Code grants a divorced wife the right to return to the name she had before marriage. However, she may only submit a declaration in this regard to the head of the registry office and within three months of the divorce judgment becoming final. No other body is authorized to accept the declaration. The court may also not include such a decision in the divorce judgment itself.
by Redaktor | Feb 4, 2025 | news-en
Pursuant to the Act of 5 August 2015 on Consultative Teams of Judicial Specialists, consultative teams of court specialists, hereinafter referred to as 'teams', operate in regional courts, whose task is to prepare, at the request of the court or the public prosecutor, opinions in family and guardianship cases and in juvenile cases, on the basis of psychological, pedagogical or medical examinations carried out. On behalf of the court, the teams also conduct mediations, conduct community interviews in juvenile cases and conduct specialist counseling for minors, minors and their families. The teams can cooperate with institutions enforcing court decisions.
The team consists of specialists in psychology, pedagogy, paediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry. The specialist is independent. The president of the regional court may not give instructions to specialists to perform activities in which they are independent.
The team prepares opinions for courts and prosecutors in the area of jurisdiction of the regional court in which it operates, and in particularly justified cases it may prepare opinions for courts and prosecutors outside its area of jurisdiction. In particularly justified cases, the area of competence of the panel may be a part of the area of jurisdiction of the regional court.
In cases concerning the removal of a person subject to parental authority or custody pending under the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, done in The Hague on 25 October 1980 (Journal of Laws of 1995, item 528 and of 1999, item 1085), opinions are drawn up immediately.
by Redaktor | Jan 3, 2025 | news-en
Władysław Ż. filed a lawsuit against Cezary T. for determining the infringement of personal rights and defamation of him with unfounded accusations of committing crimes, determining the unfoundedness of the statement about the alleged notification of the appropriate authorities about the crimes committed, awarding the defendant 10,000 PLN in compensation for the infringement of personal rights and defamation of him with a slanderous accusation, and obliging the defendant to publicly apologize in the content designated by the Court in a popular press with a reach of the capital city of Warsaw and the city of B., and in the event of the defendant refusing to publish the apology, the Court will perform this action at the defendant's expense.
The defendant was married to the plaintiff's daughter Sylwia T. in the period from April 2001 to February 2005. During the divorce proceedings, the plaintiff represented the daughter as her legal representative. The divorce action was filed by Cezary T. By the judgment of the District Court in W. of 17 February 2005, the divorce of the spouses Sylwia and Cezary T. was ruled due to the fault of both parties. On 17 February 2005, during the last divorce hearing - during the hearing, Cezary T. testified: "There was a burglary, I reported it to the appropriate authorities, my documents were missing. The burglary was committed by the defendant together with her parents. It was 2 weeks after 16 June 2002. The table and chairs were missing". After the divorce verdict was announced, Sylwia T. filed a motion to correct and supplement the minutes of the hearing of 17 February 2005.
The presiding judge ordered the minutes to be corrected and supplemented, among other things, by entering the words "There was a burglary in the apartment where I live, I reported it to the appropriate authorities, my documents, my table and chairs were stolen. It happened 2 weeks after 16 June 2002 at 3 a.m., there are witnesses and the description of the defendant's father matches" instead of "There was a burglary, I reported it to the appropriate authorities, my documents were stolen".
In considering the described case concerning infringement of personal rights, the court found that there is no doubt that the defendant's testimony, which was reflected in the minutes of the hearing of 17 February 2005 in the above-mentioned case, subsequently corrected by the order of the Presiding Judge of 28 February 2005, contained a negative assessment of the plaintiff's conduct, because it suggested that he had broken into the defendant's apartment, but in the opinion of the Court of Appeal, the term "burglary" used here cannot be identified with the definition of the offence contained in Article 279 of the Penal Code, or rather, as the District Court assumed, with the plaintiff's emotional description of the situation he found in the apartment after his wife moved out: the prevailing mess and the circumstance of taking some of the things found there from the apartment, and it is not important here whether this circumstance was confirmed in the testimony of Sylwia T. in the divorce case, as the District Court erroneously assumed, which, however, had no impact on the resolution of the case. Such an allegation falls within the limits of acceptable conduct of the party giving testimony, provided that they are convinced of the truthfulness of their testimony and cannot be accused of absurdity or deliberate humiliation or harassment. Such an allegation fell within the framework of the legal order and, in the opinion of the defendant, served their interest as a party in divorce proceedings, which means that such conduct is not an unlawful act and does not justify the protection of personal rights. Even if the defendant notified law enforcement agencies of the crime and indicated the suspect, such action is also within the limits of the law. It could only exceed them if such notification and indication of a specific person suspected of committing the crime were made with an obviously bad intention and full awareness of the falsehood of such an allegation. In the contested statements, the defendant admittedly stated that he reported the burglary to the relevant authorities, but it is not possible to deduce from this which authorities he was referring to, and it is probable that since the disappearance concerned the documents of an ABW officer, the defendant reported this circumstance - as the District Court correctly assumed - to his superiors, and not to the Prosecutor's Office or the Police, as the plaintiff claims.
In assessing whether a violation of personal rights occurred in a specific situation, the Court of Appeal shares the position of the Court of First Instance that this assessment should be made using objective criteria that take into account the feelings of the public, as well as generally accepted and customary standards of conduct. Contrary to the allegations in the appeal, it should be recognized that the plaintiff in the case did not prove that as a result of the defendant's testimony, the sphere of his personal rights was violated, because, as the Court of First Instance correctly assumed, the assessment of whether there was a violation of dignity and honour cannot be made according to the measure of the individual sensitivity of the person concerned.
In assessing the defendant's actions, one cannot ignore the fact that the testimony was given in a divorce case, which, pursuant to Article 427 The Code of Civil Procedure is held behind closed doors and, as it results from the minutes of the hearing, in addition to the parties to the proceedings, only their attorneys were present in the courtroom. The defendant's statements questioned by the plaintiff were therefore not publicly disclosed and, sharing the assessment of the District Court, the Court of Appeal found that they could not have violated the plaintiff's personal rights in the manner presented in the lawsuit.
Ultimately, the Court found that if the statements were given in a divorce case, which, pursuant to Article 427 of the Code of Civil Procedure, is held behind closed doors and, as it results from the minutes of the hearing, in addition to the parties to the proceedings, only their attorneys were present in the courtroom, then the defendant's statements questioned by the plaintiff could not be considered publicly disclosed and thus - as slander and thus violate the plaintiff's personal rights.
Judgment of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw of 3 April 2008, VI ACa 1369/07.
by Redaktor | Dec 4, 2024 | news-en
As already described in the November news - the "Blue Cards" procedure is initiated by filling out the "Blue Card - A" form by a person who, during official or professional activities, suspects that violence may be occurring in the family, or when they receive a report from a family member or witness to such an event. Further steps within the discussed procedure are taken by the interdisciplinary team and the diagnostic and assistance group, to whom the "Blue Card - A" form is provided.
The disciplinary team is appointed in a given commune by the mayor, mayor or city president. It consists of representatives of: social welfare organizational units, the communal commission for solving alcohol problems, the Police, education, health care and non-governmental organizations, in addition - probation officers, and sometimes also representatives of the Military Police or prosecutors. Meetings of the interdisciplinary team are held depending on the needs, at least once every two months. In the event of initiating the “Blue Cards” procedure, the person initiating it shall submit the “Blue Card – A” form to the interdisciplinary team within 5 days of completing it. Then, the disciplinary team shall appoint a diagnostic and assistance group within 3 days and submit the aforementioned form to it. These dates are for guidance only.
The diagnostic and assistance group shall include a social worker from the social welfare organisational unit and a police officer. In addition, it may also include:
- a social worker from a specialist support centre for people experiencing domestic violence,
- a family assistant,
- a class teacher who is the class teacher or a teacher familiar with the minor’s home situation,
- a person performing a medical profession, including a doctor, nurse, midwife or paramedic,
- a representative of the municipal commission for solving alcohol problems,
- an educator, psychologist or therapist,
- a professional or social probation officer. Members of the diagnostic and assistance group are required to continuously improve their competences in the field of prevention of domestic violence and ways of providing assistance to its victims.
The task of the diagnostic and assistance group is to make a diagnosis of the situation in connection with the suspicion of domestic violence and to take actions aimed at ensuring the safety of the person experiencing domestic violence and stopping domestic violence, alternatively - to decide on the lack of justification for taking action. The group's actions are based on the information contained in the "Blue Card - A" form.
If the procedure was initiated in the absence of the person using domestic violence, the diagnostic and assistance group notifies this person of the initiation of the procedure.
At the meeting, the diagnostic and assistance group, in the presence of the person experiencing domestic violence (or without their participation - if the victim of violence is a minor), analyzes the situation regarding the suspicion of violence and develops an individual assistance plan or makes a decision on the lack of justification for further actions. However, the failure of an adult person experiencing violence to appear does not suspend the work of the group.
Based on the data contained in the "Blue Card - C" form, the diagnostic and assistance group takes steps to ensure the safety of the person experiencing violence and to improve their life situation and home environment. On the other hand, based on the information contained in the "Blue Card - D" form,
the diagnostic and assistance group, after calling the person using domestic violence and in their presence, analyses the situation in connection with the suspicion of domestic violence and makes arrangements for further actions, obliging the person using domestic violence to implement them in order to change their behavior.
It is important that meetings with people experiencing domestic violence and people using domestic violence cannot be organized in a way that allows them to contact each other.
If, during the activities carried out as part of the procedure, there is a suspicion that the person using domestic violence has committed domestic violence again, the authorized persons complete another "Blue Card - A" form to the extent necessary to document the new incident and send it to the interdisciplinary team.
Each meeting of the diagnostic and assistance group is documented in the form of a protocol, and all activities carried out within the procedure are documented in writing. It is worth emphasizing that the "Blue Cards" procedure is conducted independently of any proceedings before the family and guardianship court and criminal proceedings, however, the findings of the interdisciplinary team may be useful to the bodies conducting these proceedings in the context of making factual findings. In particular, in the event of a suspicion of committing a crime, the originals of documents prepared during the procedure are transferred to the authorities competent to conduct preparatory proceedings.
