Maria Wójcicka

Withdrawing from a vehicle purchase contract is the most far-reaching remedy available to a buyer in a defective vehicle case. It requires the right sequence of steps and the correct form. Below is a step-by-step procedure based on the judgment of the Poznań Regional Court of 20 May 2014 (case ref. XV Ca 330/14). The…

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You bought a car and it turned out to have serious defects. What can you do? The buyer’s rights depend on who the vehicle came from – a private individual or a trader. In both cases the legal protection is real, though it differs in its details. What a Physical Defect in a Vehicle Is…

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A conditional discontinuance of criminal proceedings is the only route to avoiding the mandatory three-year driving disqualification that applies to the criminal offence under Article 178a § 1 of the Criminal Code. Below are answers to the questions that arise most often. How a Conditional Discontinuance Differs from a Conviction On a conviction, the court…

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In cases involving defective vehicles, a key piece of evidence can sometimes disappear before the case reaches court. The car is seized by the police and is about to be released to a foreign owner. The seller plans to resell the vehicle or send it for scrapping. In such situations, the standard pace of civil…

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A legal defect is a particular kind of problem when buying a car. The vehicle may be in perfect technical condition and look faultless – yet it cannot be legally used, registered or insured. Below is a list of twelve of the most common legal defects encountered in practice. What a Legal Defect Is A…

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Clauses along the lines of “the buyer declares that they have inspected the technical condition of the vehicle being purchased and will not bring any claims” appear regularly in car sale contracts. Sellers count on the buyer’s signature under such a provision closing the door to complaints. Courts, however, consistently challenge the effectiveness of such…

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A breathalyser reading of 0.10 mg/l of alcohol in exhaled breath is the lower threshold of the misdemeanour under Article 87 § 1 of the Code of Misdemeanours. The standard consequence is a driving disqualification of between six months and three years. But it is precisely at such a borderline reading that the prospects of…

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You bought a car, a few weeks later worrying symptoms appeared, you paid several hundred zlotys for an expert’s report – and the report confirmed serious defects. Does that money go to waste? No. Polish law allows the cost of an expert report to be recovered from the seller, and courts consistently confirm this. The…

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Driving a vehicle in breach of a court-imposed disqualification is a criminal offence. Courts treat it as an expression of contempt for the justice system and impose severe penalties. What is more, the consequences are significantly more serious than many drivers realise. There are, however, mitigating circumstances and lines of defence that can materially affect…

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The criminal offence under Article 178a § 1 of the Criminal Code and the misdemeanour under Article 87 § 1 of the Code of Misdemeanours can only be committed “in road traffic.” This concept is a source of frequent misunderstanding – many drivers assume the rules apply only to public roads. In reality, the scope…

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