Article Summary:

How a Polish entrepreneur in Ubekistan (also known as PRL-bis or III RP) was deceived, and destroyed ...

It is hard to believe
or the last degree of degeneration of public life
/ part V/

By Rafal Klimuszko

The moment of triumph

On September 23, 2002 the unfair company owed Mr. Adam 550 thousand zlotys.
On October 10, 2003 the Polish entrepreneur brought an action at law in the Regional Court in Cracow, Department IX, the Economic Court.

The application presented the contents of the contract and compelling evidence when the investment actually had ended. The key evidence was the date of obtaining the license to use issued by the Voivodeship’s Office.

The Regional Court in Cracow stated that in the signed contract both parties agreed that date of the permission to use would be considered as the end of the investment. The court adjudged in favor of Mr. Adam 550  thousand zlotys plus interest and also ordered the company to pay 37 thousand zlotys of the trial costs. Mr. Adam triumphed but only for a short moment.

Judge Krzysztof Sobierajski

The unfair company appealed to the Court of Appeal in Cracow in June 2005. The Court of Appeal pronounced the final sentenceand and informed Mr. Adam that if he did not like the verdict he could appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg. Arrogant judge from the Court of Appeal in Cracow was Krzysztof Sobierajski. He deducted the sum of 550 thousand zlotys to 165 thousand zlotys. The judge of the Court of Appeal (higher in the hierarchy in Poland is only the judge of the Supreme Court) falsificated the facts. Mr. Adam’s file contained the evidence of transfer the sum of 200 thousand zlotys to Infra’s account. In addition the company’s accountant confirmed in her testimony receiving this amount of money. The judge deliberately just lied claiming that in reference to the accumulated evidence the company had never received the money.

The judge falsified the facts at the stage of preparation. Infra appealed against sentence favorable to the Polish investor and didn’t want to pay the court fees for appellation, around 40 thousand zlotys. From that moment the judge claimed that 200 thousand zlotys were not transferred to company’s account. Nonetheless there was still one problem, a copy of the tax return from the Internal Revenue Service confirmed that the owner of Infra (Władysław Bidej ran a company formally registered on his wife) has got a significant income. The judge once again manipulated the facts saying that the declared income was a loss. The judge Krzysztof Sobierajski once again just lied…
 
In the sentence from June 2005 the judge proved that the sum of the compensation can not be greater than the value of the contract. The interest for the delay was 550 thousand zlotys and the total investment value was 420 thousand zlotys. The article in the Code of Civil Procedure to which the judge referred existed but it should had been considered with a record saying that "the injustice must be redressed", the loss compensated.

The Polish investor did not ask for a "compensation", but for the arrears of interest provided by the cotract and that is a slightly different story. The sum of the “compensation” could be actually reduced to the amount of the contract (420 thousand zlotys), but how the judge came up with the amount 165 thousand zlotys? Peculiar theme was also exempting the unfair company from the trial costs. As a result the Polish investor had to bear the trial costs.

How judge Sobierajski considered the complaint to judge Sobierajski

Adam Kierczyński sent the complaint to the President of the Court of Appeal in Cracow, pointing out that the judge Krzysztof Sobierajski simply committed a crime. In Polish criminal law (Criminal Code) there is an article about the attestation of an untruth. On a complaint letter indicating the crime of the judge Krzysztof Sobierajski sent to the Court of Appeal in Cracow responded Vice-President of the Court of Appeal in Cracow – the same judge Krzysztof Sobierajski! Why Krzysztof Sobierajski did considering a complaint to the judge Krzysztof Sobierajski? I would like to recall the principle of the legislation already introduced by the ancient Romans: "Nobody can be judge in his own case." Does the vice-president of the court have the right to consider a complaint on himself? Of course the answer is no!

The Vice-President judge said that the courts in Poland are independent and the judge has the freedom of appraisal of evidence. He omitted allegations of crime. Facing the attestation of an untruth and falsification of facts supporting the verdict (such as calling income “the loss” or claiming that 200 thousand zlotys were not transferred to company’s account) the President of the Court of Appeal was obliged to notify the Public Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of committing a crime by a subordinated judge.

What happened in Supreme Court

Mr. Adam still believed in justice in Poland and appealed for cassation to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Poland. The Supreme Court replied that it considers only the matters of some ambiguity to the interpretation of the law or in the case where is no clear legal rule. The Supreme Court does not consider appeals according to the Constitution of 1997 which introduced two instances in legal proceedings. However, the Supreme Court had a right for cassation and should refer the case against the judge Sobierajski to the prosecutor's office. Outrageous violation of law and reasonable suspicion of crime committed by the judge issuing the sentence was applicable to the Supreme Court’s "concern for the law", "professional supervision " etc. The Supreme Court should have appealed that case for reconsideration by another Court of Appeal and had an obligation that arose from the general principles of law to intervene against the judge Krzysztof Sobierajski. The Supreme Court was not interested in a drastic violation of the law and so Mr. Adam’s litigation finally ended.

Adam Kierczyński and the court executive officer

Some people would say that the investor from the U.S. should at least enjoy obtaining 165 thousand zlotys. In the end - after rejecting the appeal – it was the final verdict.

After three reminders for payment, on  May 18, 2006 Mr. Adam finally levied an execution at the bailiff of the District Court in Świebodzin. The defendant, Wladyslaw Bidej’s wife, sent the legal counsel, who made the request for remission of the execution because according to his information Mr. Adam Kierczyński was dead, reportedly shot in the U.S. The legal counsel drafted a letter in which he wrote that he heard such information even from the officials (of course he did not mention any specific names), he quoted law articles and gave them to bailiff. The court executive officer discontinued of executory proceedings basing on gossips pronouncing the death of the creditor.

Mr. Adam Kierczyński still believed in the possibility of obtaining justice in Polish courts so he sued the legal counsel and the court executive officer for “killing" him and depriving him of his money. The notification of the offense made by Mr. Adam was admirable. The prosecutors and the appeal courts brought the legal counsel and the court executive officer in as not guilty. On  December 12, 2008, the District Court in Leszno finally remitted proceedings in Mr. Adam’s case ending the Polish litigation. The court claimed the legal counsel and the court executive officer were not liable in tort. They didn’t do anything wrong! This is not a fairy tale. This story really happened!