The amendment to the Polish Code of Civil Procedure in July 2023 brought about a significant change to the rules on the amount of the court fee in proceedings following a Paulian action for annulment: if the value of the dispute or the action for annulment exceeds 20,000 PLN, the fee is a maximum of 1,000 PLN.
However, there is one condition – the creditor must possess a corresponding title confirming the claim against the debtor. Previously, this fee could amount to up to 200,000 PLN.
For disputes with a value of less than 20,000 PLN, the model according to Article 13 of the Law on Court Costs in Civil Matters applies: The fee starts at 30 PLN and increases proportionally with the value of the subject matter of the dispute.
It is important to note that the maximum legal fee in proceedings following a Paulian action for annulment is currently PLN 1,000. Under the model prior to the amendment, this fee was 5% of the amount in dispute exceeding PLN 20,000 (maximum PLN 200,000).
This amendment encourages creditors to initiate proceedings to challenge legal transactions by the debtor that are detrimental to them (Art. 527 et seq. of the Polish Civil Code). It also minimizes the risk of high litigation costs if the creditor possesses a corresponding title confirming the claim.
One such title is:
a) a final court judgment,
b) an arbitral award whose enforceability has been established by a court,
c) a settlement reached before a court or an arbitral tribunal,
d) a settlement reached before a mediator and confirmed by a court.
With a value in dispute of 4 million PLN, this means a reduction of the fee from 200,000 PLN to 1,000 PLN. From this perspective, the decision to file a Paulian appeal appears significantly simpler.
The amendments described above were introduced because a Paulian action is a continuation of the proceedings initiated by the creditor to enforce their claim and is not a separate proceeding. If the creditor possesses a judgment confirming the claim, they have already incurred significant costs in the payment process against the debtor. The Paulian action should be considered a complementary component of this process, which aims at effective enforcement.
The change is also a reaction to the declining percentage of Paulian annulment cases prior to 2023 and an attempt to reverse this trend – which should undoubtedly be achieved.
For questions regarding the Polish Code of Civil Procedure, please contact us by email at kontakt@kancelaria-pozniak.pl or by phone at +48 665 246 969 .