Advocate Maciej Obrębski comments on the newest Sejm proposals for combating online hate. Two bills – tabled by Poland 2050 and the PSL – would amend the Code of Civil Procedure to create a “blind lawsuit,” i.e., an action filed without the perpetrator’s details, which the court itself would then obtain. The aim is to unblock civil-law protection of personal interests on the internet. Advocate Obrębski warns, however, that the seven-day window in which the court would have to request user data from online platforms is unrealistically short under Polish conditions and could expose the State Treasury to liability for missing the deadline. He also notes the absence of any filter for plainly groundless suits; without it, a blind lawsuit could be misused to secure personal data – for instance, of whistle-blowers.
The bills would further oblige service providers to retain personal data for up to 12 months and to hand it over to courts. Yet even those retention periods may prove too short if a pre-trial merits review is introduced, whereas extending them could run afoul of CJEU case-law and the GDPR…
Other doubts remain. Shifting to the court the duty of locating a defendant may clash with the constitutional principle of judicial impartiality (Article 45 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland). Moreover, imposing broad data-retention obligations could infringe Articles 7 and 8 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Date: 23.06.2025
Author: Piotr Szymaniak
Source: Rzeczpospolita (rp.pl)
