On 10 September 2025, some of the provisions of the Act of 5 August 2025 amending the Act – the Code of Civil Procedure, the Civil Code and certain other acts (Journal of Laws of 2025, item 1172) concerning mediation proceedings entered into force. Further provisions provided for in the above-mentioned Act will enter into force on 1 March 2026.  Below we present the most important new regulations on mediation, introduced by the Polish legislator.

1. Amendments effective from 10.09.2025

• Implicit consent to mediation (Article 183⁸ § 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The amendment provides that the absence of an objection by a party to mediation proceedings submitted within 7 days from the date of announcement or service of the decision to refer the case to mediation means consent to conduct it. It should be noted that the objection must be submitted in an explicit manner, within the statutory deadline – otherwise it will be ineffective.

• Electronic signatures under the protocol and settlement (Article 183¹² § 2² of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The parties and the mediator may sign the mediation protocol and the mediation settlement in electronic form with a qualified electronic signature. Such a solution abolishes the need to exchange documents in paper form and thus significantly speeds up the proceedings.

• Improvement of contact with a mediator (Article 183⁹ § 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The presiding judge provides the mediator with the contact details of the parties and attorneys (correspondence address, telephone number, e-mail), if they appear in the court files.

• Settlements during remote meetings (Article 223 § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

If the settlement is concluded during an online hearing, as well as if it is not possible to sign it for other reasons,  the court may state that it has been concluded in the minutes, indicating the reason for the lack of signature – thus the amendment formally confirms the possibility of concluding settlements as part of remote meetings.

2. Changes effective from 1.03.2026

• Obligation to refer parties to mediation in cases concerning construction contracts

The most far-reaching change to the mediation section is the addition  of Article 458³a  to the Code of Civil Procedure. In accordance with the norm expressed in this provision,  the court obligatorily directs the parties to mediation before the preparatory hearing or the first hearing scheduled for the hearing – in commercial cases arising from:

• construction contracts,
• and contracts closely related to the construction process, used for the execution of construction works.

This provision does not apply to cases examined in writ of payment proceedings, electronic writ of payment proceedings or payment-order proceedings. However, if an objection or a plea against an order for paymen is raised, the court refers the parties to mediation.

• Tightening the cost sanction for refusing to participate in mediation

A party has the right to refuse to participate in mediation, but this will be associated with a cost sanction. The amendment to Article 103 of the Code of Civil Procedure expands the scope of situations in which the court is entitled to impose costs on a party. The amended regulations tighten the existing criterion by replacing “a manifestly unjustified refusal to undergo mediation” with the wording “unjustified refusal to submit to mediation”. It should be noted, however , that Article 103 of the Code of Civil Procedure will apply in its current wording to cases initiated and not completed before the date of entry into force of this amending Act. 

• Court fee reimbursement as an incentive to settle before a mediator

The amendments provide for the introduction of an additional financial incentive for mediation. According to the new wording of Article 79(1)(2)(ab) of 28 July 2005 on court costs in civil cases (i.e. Journal of Laws of 2025, item 1228, as amended),  the court will ex officio reimburse a party three-quarters of the court fee for the appeal if a settlement is reached before a mediator in the proceedings before the court of second instance. The current regulations provide for the reimbursement of only half of this fee in the event of a court settlement.

• Simplified jurisdiction of the court when approving a settlement

Pursuant  to the amended Article 183¹³ § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, an application for approval of a mediation settlement may be submitted to:

• the district court competent for the place where the settlement was concluded,
• or another district court – if it was indicated in the settlement,
• and in the absence of these grounds – to the district court of the applicant’s place of residence or registered office.

If you would like to obtain further information about the new regulations, please contact our law firm.