id: 20004

Polish Supreme Court ruling

dated 2 November 1926

Case No. R 852/26

Summary by arbitraz.laszczuk.pl:

In a civil case involving multiple disputes among various parties, joined for procedural purposes, the claim by one plaintiff was dismissed due to an arbitration clause in a 1921 collective agreement governing the petroleum industry in Poland. The plaintiff sought review by the Supreme Court of Poland, which found that the collective agreement had not been signed by both of the parties to that dispute, and therefore the arbitration clause did not apply. The court accordingly held that the state court had jurisdiction over the dispute.

Excerpt from the text of the court’s ruling:

An arbitration provision in a collective agreement would have legal effect only when the agreement was signed by both parties (§ 884 of the [former Austrian] Civil Code), or by their attorneys-in-fact “specifically” authorized to conclude the agreement (§ 1008 of the [former Austrian] Civil Code).