The Procedures of Civil Law in International Relations in the Practice of Polish Courts
Poland's progressive integration with the European Union has led to the extensive application of EU law within the Polish judiciary. This also applies to other acts of international law. The changes are clearly observed in civil procedure, where new instruments of EU and international law are increasingly applied. At present, in the Polish legal order we can observe 31 civil procedures created under the influence of international law, mainly of the European Union. The aim of their existence is to facilitate foreign turnover, including the creation of civil law effects in international relations. However, the scope of application of the new legal solutions in courts varies greatly. The effects of their application do not always correspond with the assumptions, and the practice of judges and other court employees differs from the normative reality. The main objective of the research was to discover and diagnose the practical application of civil procedure instruments introduced by international, mainly EU, law. Moreover, the essence of the research was to show the judicial practice of applying instruments of supranational civil law. Another important element of the considerations was to trace the scope of application of these procedures, the inclination of Polish courts to use them and the effects of the use of these procedures. The study was carried out on the basis of several research methods, of which the method of analysing the content of statistical materials led the way. The annual reports for 2020 of all district courts and a sample of regional courts in Poland were analysed. The analysis was conducted in terms of the intensity of application of all civil procedures introduced by international law, mainly of the European Union. This research method was complemented by the use of the functional method of examining legal acts, the method of analysing the content of the subject literature and the method of structured interviews (SSI) conducted among Polish advocates and legal advisers. The results of the study are surprising. It showed that Polish courts do not use civil procedures of international origin at all in their judicial practice. Nationwide, less than 1% of civil cases contain a foreign element. Most of the theoretically existing instruments in civil procedure are not known and used in courts. Flawed judicial technical tools also prevent full insight into the scope of application of international procedures. This state of affairs is influenced by macro and micro factors, only the latter of which is easy to eliminate