PARTICIPATION OF A SOCIAL FACTOR IN CIVIL PROCEEDINGS IN POLAND AND THE RIGHT TO A COURT

Resumo

The participation of the social factor in the administration of justice in Poland, including in civil proceedings, takes the form of the participation of jurors in court panels adjudicating specific cases. The jurors participate in the hearing of a court case on an equal footing with the judge, performing the function of civic social control over the judges and a link between the court and society. They are supposed to provide judges with knowledge and life experience unrelated to the legal profession. And although the participation of the social factor in the judiciary is directly enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, it’s currently of a residual nature, including in civil cases in which citizens as members of the court panel rule only in the first instance in certain categories of cases. These are cases in which strictly legal issues are less important than social aspects. It may therefore be argued that the participation of the social factor in the adjudication of civil cases in Poland is of an exceptional nature, but such a solution doesn’t violate the right to a court. What is new, however, is the participation of jurors in the Supreme Court.