Arbitration courts have existed in Poland for years. Many entrepreneurs turn to them to resolve their most serious disputes with partners. So, what exactly are arbitration courts? These courts, also known as arbitral tribunals, are non-state courts that adjudicate civil law disputes and are established by the will of the parties. Arbitration judiciary offers an alternative to the system of common courts. It is very important to know that arbitration courts are a completely legal solution – according to civil procedure regulations, the judgement of an arbitration court holds the same weight as a judgement from a state court.

For an arbitration court to handle a case, the parties must have previously agreed to this in the contract binding them. A clause with such a provision is called an “arbitration clause.” Therefore, if you are entering into a sale, leasing, credit, or rental agreement and want any potential future disputes arising from it to be handled by a specific arbitration court, such a provision must be included in your contract as an additional clause. You need not elaborate; a single sentence suffices.

At this point, another extremely important piece of information is that once an arbitration clause is established, neither party to the contract can successfully sue their partner in a common court. If this happens, the other party can raise what is called the objection of the arbitration clause. This will result in the dismissal of the lawsuit by the common court.

In future posts, we will attempt to showcase the advantages of our notarial arbitration court, Ultima Ratio. We will present specific examples of how the procedure works, which ensures that a decision is issued essentially no later than 21 days. We will describe how much time and money entrepreneurs are currently losing due to the necessity of conducting court disputes in common courts. Lawyers and legal counsels will also see that their work can look completely different, simpler, more flexible.

Notaries have already taken over some functions of common courts. The so-called “notarial inheritance certifications” have proved to be an alternative to inheritance declaration proceedings conducted in common courts. Indeed, not so long ago, notaries prepared “notarial payment orders.” This typically took them one day. Hence, entrusting the role of arbitrators in the Ultima Ratio arbitration court to the notaries of the Association of Notaries of the Republic of Poland.