Disputes and Courts in Poland 25 Years Later
Disputes and Courts in Poland 25 Years Later

Summary/Abstract: In order to detect the effects of the regime change from Communist Party dictatorship into the parliamentarian legal state research findings from late ‘70s are compared with research done 25 years later. The authors relate separately their findings J. Kurczewski, examining the questionnaire surveys in a few localities observes that the sense of private rights has been strengthened but this was accompanied by an increase in the privatization of disputes, except for disputes with official agencies. M. Fuszara, repeating her interviews with parties to disputes on bodily integrity, libel and verbal abuse, where in Polish law criminal proceedings may be initiated by the wronged party, looks for explanation of the overall decline in number of such cases. Special attention is given to the “notorious litigant’s” role in the everyday functioning of justice. At the end, J. Kurczewski analyzes the statistical data on civil litigation in Poland after 1989 and points out that despite the privatization of interpersonal disputes, the volume of the litigation recorded has risen dramatically. This is explained by the growth of the legal formalities and procedures that are a necessary vehicle of the economic transactions in a market economy.

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