The relevant amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) was enacted under the Act of 10 May 2013 (Journal of Laws of 2013, item 654) and became effective on 7 July 2013. The purpose of the amendment is to prevent the abuse of electronic proceedings by writ of payment, specifically targeting the pursuit of time-barred claims. The amendment limits the application of these proceedings (commonly known as proceedings before the e-court) to claims that became due and payable up to three years prior to the date of filing the claim (Article 50529a of CCP).
Under the new regulations, a claim in the electronic proceedings by writ of payment must include the PESEL Personal Number or the NIP Tax Number for both the claimant and the defendant if they are natural persons. If the claimant and the defendant are not natural persons, the National Court Register (KRS) number must be provided. This requirement is specific to proceedings before the e-court.
Additionally, the amendment allows the court to impose a fine of up to PLN 5,000 on the claimant, their statutory representative, or legal representative if they act in bad faith or fail to exercise due diligence in providing correct PESEL, NIP, KRS, and residential or registered address details.
The amendment also expands the defendant’s rights during enforcement proceedings. Under Article 8051 of CCP, the court enforcement officer must advise the debtor of the rules for due delivery of the order for payment, the right to file a request for reinstatement of the deadline, and the right to file a motion for stay of proceedings if the order for payment is delivered to a different address than the debtor’s residential address established during the enforcement proceedings. This aims to protect debtors from being unaware of orders for payment issued against them.