Decision of the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy) No. I CSK 159/09 of 6 November 2009

Rationes Decidendi:

A decision on the legal relevance of a particular decision of a foreign court cannot be taken during exequatur procedure as it is impossible to predict what effects of such a decision will be claimed by any applicant (party) in the future and under what circumstances. In this respect, Article 1145 § 1 k.p.c. does not form a basis to dismiss [an application for] the recognition of a decision of a foreign court merely because, in the opinion of the court adjudicating on recognition (in exequatur procedure), the decision will not induce any effects in Poland.
If the applicant in exequatur procedure (i.e. the person seeking recognition of the decision) was the same party in the [main] action before the Austrian court, it has a legal interest not only in being entitled to bring proceedings in exequatur procedure in Poland, but also, if the conditions laid down in Article 1146 k.p.c. are not met, in being able to claim the recognition of such a decision, i.e. the recognition of the legal effects thereof, in Poland.
The decision dismissing the application for the annulment of an arbitral award by the court, from a formally procedural perspective, is a decision on the merits and not just a procedural decision. The decision on the application for the annulment of the arbitration award by the court was therefore generally eligible for recognition (it may be subject to exequatur procedure). It should be noted, however, that, from the substantive aspect, the dispute was resolved by the award of an arbitral tribunal, the basis of which was the will of the parties expressed by the arbitration agreement. In this regard, a decision on an application for the annulment of an arbitral award is only a decision by which the State exercises supervision of (control over) arbitral awards and arbitration in general.
A decision rendered by a Polish court in proceedings brought by an application for the annulment of an arbitral award must be taken into account in procedure on the recognition of a foreign arbitral award only if so provided by the law applicable to such procedure. According to the k.p.c. and the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (1958), a court adjudicating on the recognition of a foreign decision shall take into account, on a motion from a party, a decision annulling an arbitral award. It does so when examining the existence of any grounds for refusal of recognition.
The basis for the rendering of an arbitral award is the will of the parties. It follows from the nature of the arbitral award and from the role played by the foreign court’s decision dismissing the application for the annulment of the arbitral award that there is an insufficient legal basis for the recognition of the foreign court’s decision, which is essentially only of a supervisory, rather than a substantive, nature. The connection with an arbitral award and, consequently, not the absolutely individual nature of such a decision of a foreign court on an application for the annulment of such an arbitral award, is primarily an obstacle hindering its assessment as a decision which may be recognized in Poland under Article 1145 § 1 k.p.c.