State's Treasure liability in tort

The present study aims to introduce to the reader the evolution of the State's Treasury tort liability in Poland and the premises for the recovery of damages, particularly by conducting a deep analysis of the concept of fault and unlawful action. The paper distinguishes between sovereign and non-sovereign state's activities and describes the character of liability in case of damages caused by both types of state's actions. It includes also a critical summary of the difficulties when dealing with the notion of the "legislative lawlessness" (unlawfulness) with regards to damage arising from a legislative act. The paper describes also the application of the relevant provisions by the courts, and the difficulties in obtaining compensation for damages due to the restrictive interpretation of the civil code by the courts in such cases. The paper emphasises that the present application of law by courts practically never leads to awarding damages to the injured party, and therefore, should be regarded as incompatible with the intent of the legislator. Finally, the paper lists the inconsistencies between Polish and European law concerning the State's Treasury tort liability, and discusses the questions arising from the intertemporal application of the law which need to be resolved through further jurisprudence development.