Introduction
to Polish Private
International Law
First Classes
Dr. Mateusz Pilich
Chair of Int’l Private and Trade Law,
University of Warsaw
Organizational Matters
Some Information on Our Classes
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Course instructor: Dr. Mateusz Pilich [ma’teuʃ ’piliχ]
Consultations for students: Wednesdays, 3:30 p.m., room
111 (Coll. Iur. IV)
Form of classes: lecture (but please, try to join in the
discussion)
Materials available at: http://www.mateuszpilich.edh.pl/pil/
Textbook in English: there is no any, suggested solutions:
buy or borrow an English one, may be useful (in spite of
differences), a manual in your native language as a
supplement
Giving credits: after the full course but no typical
examination, most probably essays (to be decided)
Introductory Issues
What is the Private Int’l Law?
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Examples:
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Polish enterprise Alpha SA enters into a contract with German service provider Beta
GmbH. There is a dispute between the parties concerning delayed payment. The latter
company intends to sue its counterparty in Poland.
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Polish student Jerzy B. buys a bike in a US e-shop. He is strongly dissatisfied with the
poor quality of the goods, obviously not in the line with the contract. The other party
refuses to accept his complaint.
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Spanish Erasmus student Ana G. S. (any correlation of names is casual…) meets and
falls in love with Polish colleague Marcin C. After 2 years of a distance relationship, the
couple decides to marry. The ceremony would take place in Warsaw, where both
newlyweds possibly will stay. How about the family names of future spouses and
effects of marriage?
Problems with a Definition
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May be widerly or strictly defined
PRIVATE – only private law matters involved (
Ulpianus)
Its aim is to regulate the cross-border private
law relationships (marriages, contracts, property,
etc.)
INTERNATIONAL – functionally: yes, genetically:
no ( Public International Law, Law of Nations)
PIL touches interests of the states in a specific
context: conflicts of private laws of various countries
Stricter Notion of the PIL
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Designates only the law applicable to private
law issues concerning the relationship in question
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In a case between Ana G. S. and Marcin C. e.g. the
minimum age and capacity to marry, a subsequent
statutory property regime between spouses, etc.
Question: the law of which country shall apply (Polish?
Spanish?) and to which extent?
Indirect regulation, focused on substance
Problematic neutrality
Wider Notion of the PIL
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Focused on a cross-border relationship as such
Direct regulation may be of
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the international provenience, the so-called ‘uniform law’
(e.g. the CISG – 1980 Vienna UN Convention on Contracts
for the International Sale of Goods)
the national provenience (some Civil Code provisions
referring e.g. to the foreign nationality of a party as an
element arising certain legal effects)
Focused on substance
Problematic neutrality
Interplay between the PIL
and Civil Procedure
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Jurisdiction first!
Principle of legis fori processualis
Principle of abstraction of the designation of the law applicable
and the international courts’ competence
 Exceptions (German Gleichlaufsprinzip)
 EU Private International Law touches both
 Partly different legal instruments as to the conflict of laws and
the procedural issues
The impact of the recognition and enforcement of judgments on
the conflict of laws
The phenomen of ‘forum shopping’ – remarks on a case before
the SC, I CSK 697/12 Cimoszewicz-Harlan v Wprost
Points of Tangency
with Other Branches of Law
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Public International Law
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Something different (yet see the so-called ‘international
school’ of PIL)
Notions of the ‘nationality’ and ‘country’
International sources – conventions
Civil, commercial and labor law
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Separate disciplines of private law (so the PIL, too)
They regulate the private law relationships in a direct way,
the PIL (as strictly understood) indirectly
Private International Law may designate private
(substantial) law of any country as applicable
Thanks for your attention!