The Concept of Wrongfulness in the Tort Law – An Analysis of the Polish Jurisprudence

Abstract

In Polish law, the prevailing opinion is that wrongfulness in tort law occurs when a given behaviour contradicts the norms included in the provisions of law and the principles of social coexistence. The latter notion is understood as non-legal norms of behaviour existing in the society, including mainly moral norms. The aim of the study is to present how the concept of wrongfulness is interpreted in the jurisprudence of Polish common courts and whether the concepts expressed in the Polish doctrine and jurisprudence of the Supreme Court actually ‘translate’ in any way into the jurisprudence of these courts. It is interesting to examine in which factual circumstances wrongfulness is in jurisprudence related to violation of principles of social coexistence. To achieve this aim the article will present analysis of judgments of common courts available on the Internet Portal of the Jurisprudence of Common Courts - the most representative and biggest public available database of Polish jurisprudence. The article focuses on those behaviours which the jurisprudence of common courts usually classifies as contrary to the principles of social coexistence: inflicting deliberate damage on other entities and failing to ensure adequate safety measures that could protect those entities from damage.