Department of Civil Procedure

Research staff:

Assoc. Prof. Anna Machnikowska, DSc (Head of the Department) [e-mail]

Grzegorz Julke, PhD [e-mail]

Dominika Mróz-Szarmach, PhD [e-mail]

Jarosław Świeczkowski, PhD [e-mail]

Olga Zinkiewicz-Będźmirowska, MA [e-mail]

Department secretary:

Oliwia Kapecka, MA

e-mail: sekretariat03@prawo.ug.edu.pl

Scientific development and research of the Department
on the 50th Anniversary of the Faculty of Law and Administration (1970-2020)

        On the 1^st of April 1979, the Division of Civil Procedure was established as part of the Institute of Civil and Criminal Law. In 1982, the Department of Civil Procedure was established and doc. dr hab. Sławomir Dalka was its first head (associate professor from 1989 and full professor since the 1^st of August 1994).

The current head of the Department is dr hab. Anna Machnikowska, prof. UG. Her research interests focus on the efficiency of court proceedings, separate proceedings, the status of judges and legal ethics, as well as the use of new technologies, including artificial intelligence in court proceedings and legal liability for the use of these technologies.  During her time at the Department she has published, inter alia, a monograph entitled O niezawisłości sędziów i niezależności sądów w trudnych czasach. Wymiar sprawiedliwości w pułapce sprawności, Wolters Kluwer 2018, in which she discussed fundamental systemic problems at the level of the judiciary and the legal and political disputes that accompany them and presented the results of a national survey of judge opinions (conducted on the largest group of respondents to date). She is also the editor of the monograph titled Legitymizacja władzy sądowniczej, as well as author of commentaries on the Code of Civil Procedure, the Civil Code, Regulation No. 650/2012 and other legal acts. She carries out numerous research projects funded by the National Science Centre: Trzecia władza sądów i sędziów w Polsce z perspektywy teorii i filozofii prawa;  Pomiędzy modernizacją a narodowym charakterem. Ideologia i aksjologia twórców polskiego prawa prywatnego w XX w. She also carries out the international ACCURIA project: Ocena sądów wobec postępowań restrukturyzacyjnych i upadłościowych; dobre praktyki, bariery oraz sposoby naprawy. In addition to her research and teaching work, she is involved in improving the quality of education for students and Ph.D. students, serving as vice-rector of the University of Gdańsk from 2012 to 2019 and as president of the university education commission (Uniwersytecka Komisja Kształcenia), the Association of vice-rectors of all universities, from 2012 to 2020. She is also a member of the board of the Polish society of civil procedure specialists (Zarząd Polskiego Towarzystwa Procesualistów Cywilnych) and performs the profession of attorney-at-law.

Currently, the Department of Civil Procedure is composed of dr Grzegorz Julke, dr Jarosław Świeczkowski, dr Dominika Mróz-Szarmach and mgr Olga Zinkiewicz-Będźmirowska.

Grzegorz Julke has been employed at the Department of Civil Procedure since 2002 – first as an assistant and, since 2014, as assistant professor. He received his Ph.D. in 2013 on the basis of his doctoral dissertation entitled Realizacja należności pieniężnych z nieruchomości w sądowym postępowaniu egzekucyjnym, prepared under the supervision of dr hab. Jerzy Ciszewski, prof. UG. His research interests focus on the issue of the position of the parties in civil proceedings and on judicial enforcement proceedings and the activities of legal authorities. He is author of many publications in the field of civil procedure and judicial execution (articles, monographs and commentaries), e.g.: Egzekucja z wynagrodzenia za pracę, Egzekucja z nieruchomości, Podział sumy uzyskanej z egzekucji, co-author of: Komentarz do kodeksu postępowania cywilnego – postępowanie zabezpieczające  i egzekucyjne, Egzekucja sądowa w prawie polskim (works supervised by dr Zbigniew Szczurek), Komentarz do ustawy o komornikach sądowych (edited by dr Grzegorz Sikorski), and Metodyki pracy komornika sądowego (edited by prof. dr hab. Andrzej Marciniak, and dr hab. Monika Michalska-Marciniak, prof. UŁ). He provided training for judges, judicial referees and judicial staff (e.g. organised under the project NKCK dla kadr sądów rejonowych), as well as for court bailiffs and bailiff trainees.

In 1999, Jarosław Świeczkowski obtained the degree of Doctor of Legal Sciences after presenting his thesis under the supervision of prof. Sławomir Dalka entitled: Instytucja zarządu w polskiej procedurze cywilnej. He started his academic and teaching activities at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Gdańsk in 2009. His research interests include issues related to civil procedure, including judicial enforcement. Dr Jarosław Świeczkowski is author of many publications in the field of civil procedure, including monographs (e.g. Zniesienie współwłasności rzeczy i praw w drodze sprzedaży publicznej; Uproszczona egzekucja z nieruchomości), opinions (e.g. Ustawa o komornikach sądowych, Ustawa o kosztach komorniczych, Kodeks Etyki Zawodowej Komornika Sądowego), articles (e.g. Postępowanie wykonawcze w sprawach cywilnych, Zakres zajęcia nieruchomości na podstawie art. 929 k.p.c. Zagadnienia wybrane,)  and commentaries (e.g. Glosa do uchwały Sądu Najwyższego z dnia 28 czerwca 2006 r., III CZP 23/06; Ograniczenie nadzoru sądu nad czynnościami komornika w trybie art. 759 § 2 K. P. C. a odpowiedzialność odszkodowawcza komornika, Glosa do wyroku SN z dnia 10 lutego 2010r., V CSK 279/09). He has delivered, inter alia, lectures in the framework of nationwide schools for district and regional judges adjudicating civil matters, organised by the National Centre for Personnel of the General Courts and Prosecutors (Krajowe Centrum Kadr Sądów Powszechnych i Prokuratury), training for judges and prosecutors, organised by the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution (Krajowa Szkoła Sądownictwa i Prokuratury) and the University of Wrocław, as well as training for persons taking the bailiff, tax bailiff, court clerk and lawyer exams within the framework of professional training of the Pomeranian Bar Association in Gdańsk (Pomorska Izba Adwokacka w Gdańsku).

Dominika Mróz-Szarmach has been an employee of the Department of Civil Procedure of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Gdańsk since 2012. She received her Ph.D. in 2019 on the basis of her doctoral dissertation entitled Interes prawny w zaskarżeniu orzeczenia w cywilnym postępowaniu rozpoznawczym, supervised by dr hab. Anna Machnikowska, prof. UG. In addition, dr Dominika Mróz-Szarmach has been head of the civil section of the Student Legal Clinic research group since 2015, and since 2016, supervisor of the Civil Procedure research group. She is an attorney-at-law. Her research interests focus on exploratory proceedings, remedies, judgments in civil proceedings, trial attorneys, and the procedural roles of participants in civil proceedings.

From December 2017, Olga Zinkiewicz-Będzmirowska has been employed as assistant. Her research interests revolve around intellectual property litigation, evidence handling in civil litigation, and the digitalisation of civil litigation. She is co-author of a monograph titled Arbitraż sportowy (2019) and articles: The first steps of the Polish Legal System towards the digitisation of registration proceedings - the analysis and the assessment of the Draft Act on the National Court Register, with the consideration of the compliance thereof with the Directive 2017/1132/EU and the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS); and Knowledge, intentions or other factors - what determines the infringement of copyrights? Coomentary to the CJEU judgement of 14 June 2017 in Case C-610/15 Stichting Brein V. Ziggo published in Przedsiębiorczość i Zarządzanie.

In addition to research and teaching activities, the Department of Civil Procedure also conducts many projects with the participation of scientists, practitioners, employees, and entrepreneurs, aimed at broadening the national discussion on the effectiveness of litigation, the development of mediation, and the business model of legal protection. Each year, the Department organises several national scientific conferences dedicated to this topic. The patrons of these activities are the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Poland (Prokuratoria Generalna Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej), local law authorities, and the Ministry of Justice. Some of the legislative proposals developed during these debates have been put into practice.

Department members are also involved in popularising the science of civil procedure, supporting students by organising, inter alia, the national competition for the knowledge of civil procedure (Ogólnopolski konkurs z wiedzy o postepowaniu cywilnym).