The Supreme Court has recognized the appeal in cassation brought by our Law Office in the case against the Polish State Treasury – General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) (case no. I CSK 501/13).
The SRC Law Office, on behalf of its Client, has brought a complaint against the State Treasury for the compensation of damages caused during the construction of the express road S3. Our Client aimed to prove that the irrigation systems had been damaged by the construction works, which caused the flooding of the land of our Client located next to the express road.
The matter in dispute was whether the claims resulting from the damaging of the irrigation systems can be pursued in a court proceeding based on the civil code, or such claims have to be pursued in an administrative proceeding based on the provisions of the Water Law.
The courts of first and second instance rejected the complaint. The courts stated that the claims arising from water damage, suffered by our Client, should be pursued in an administrative proceeding regulated by the Water Law.
Our Law Office has brought an appeal in cassation. We argued that the claims for losses arising from the water damage should be pursued based on the civil code. Thus, such claims can be brought directly before common courts.
Resolving this matter required interpretation of the Water Law, which specifies the types of water damage the remedying of which should be pursued under administrative proceedings.
In its judgment of a precedential value, the Supreme Court shared the position according to which the damages resulting from construction works hindering the water system can be redressed based on the civil code. Such conclusion is even more favourable to our Client, as it does not limit the liability of the party that caused the damage to the damage actually suffered by the injured party , as it would be the case under the Water Law.
The case was argued by att. Monika Urbańska, att. Wojciech Majdiuk and att. Łukasz Caban.
