On June 30, 2022, the Act amending the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, and certain other acts—signed by the President of the Republic of Poland on December 27, 2021—will enter into force.

Under the amended provisions, filing a motion for conciliation proceedings will no longer interrupt the limitation period; instead, it will only suspend it for the duration of the conciliation proceedings. This means that once the conciliation proceedings are concluded, the limitation period will not start running anew but will continue from where it left off.

Under the current legal framework, it has been widely accepted that the first motion for conciliation interrupts the limitation period. Both case law and legal doctrine have treated it as an action taken directly to pursue, establish, satisfy, or secure a claim. However, doubts have arisen as to the effects of subsequent motions for conciliation. It has been argued that repeatedly filing such motions by creditors may lead to situations where claims never become time-barred.

The amendment is intended to prevent this negative phenomenon—namely, the repeated filing of motions for conciliation—and to restore the original purpose of conciliation proceedings, which is to reach a settlement.