The Exercise of the Right to a Fair Trial in Light of Changes in Civil Procedure in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic

At the beginning of 2020, the Polish justice system faced unprecedented challenge related to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The need to reduce face-to-face contacts, limit the activities of public institutions and introduce remote work has forced the legislator to fundamentally restructure the model of civil proceedings. This book describes the changes to the law introduced between 2020 and 2024 in the field of civil proceedings, focusing on the COVID-19 Special Act. The research objective was to analyse the institutions introduced in the provisions of the COVID-19 Special Act and to verify whether they implement the standard of a fair trial under the Polish Constitution, the ECHR and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. The aim of the study was also to analyse the practice of application of the discussed institutions by the courts and to assess whether they should find a permanent place in the Polish legal order after the end of the pandemic and under what conditions.