Nowa krajowa regulacja prawa prywatnego międzynarodowego w Polsce

Abstract

On 4th February, 2011, Polish Parliament has enacted the act on private international law, which was published in the Official Journal No 80, item 432, and came into force on 16th May, 2011. The new law has replaced the old statute from 1965. It constitutes the “national part” of the conflict of law rules, which are in force in Poland, and is coordinated with the European private international law. The act governs the matters excluded from the scope of the regulations Rome I and Rome II and supplements the Hague convention of 19th October, 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co‑operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children. The new law also implements the conflict of law rule established in Directive 2008/122/EC of 14th January, 2009. The act of 2011 fills out many of the gaps that existed previously (e.g. it determines the law applicable for the power of attorney, the personal rights and the name) and alters certain of the solutions adopted under the law of 1965. It permits, inter alia, a choice of law for the matrimonial property regimes, the marriage contract and the succession. Moreover, the obligations arising out of the unilateral legal acts have been treated differently than in the law of 1965. As with respect to the formal validity of the legal acts related to the dispositions of the immovable property or the corporate matters (such as the creation, transformation or liquidation of the legal entity), the new law gives up the rule according to which it was sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the form of the lex loci actus. Finally, the act establishes a general rule, based on the concept of the closest connection, which apply in the circumstances where the act itself or other provisions of Polish law fail to indicate the governing law.