Common court (Poland)

[2] The Minister of Justice, as authorised by article 19 of the Law on the organisation of common courts, may create through a regulation a local branch division of a sąd rejonowy located in a town other than the main seat of the court and consisting of replicated divisions mirroring those operating at the main seat (either all or selected), with both locations supported by a single administrative apparatus.

[10] All such courts hear trials in at least three divisions (wydziały): a civil (cywilny), a criminal (karny) and a family and minors (rodzinny i nieletnich) one.

In addition to that, the courts based in the cities that at the same time host a sąd okręgowy or other located in a city with powiat rights also include an economic (gospodarczy) division;[9] and in most cases also a labour and social insurance (pracy i ubezpieczeń społecznych) division.

[13] Additionally, one of the two regional courts for Lublin additionally operates a nationwide civil division for cases filed using a simplified procedure of the electronic writ of payment (Polish: elektroniczne postępowanie upominawcze), regardless of the sum in dispute.

In addition, 11 courts (serving the cities where appeal courts are located) maintain also a further economic division, designated for operating the Register of Pledges [pl] containing entries on all registered pledges and voluntary liens granted on collaterals other than real estate,[16] but ship mortgage and maritime liens are entered in a separate Registry of Ships.

There are currently 47 district courts, located mainly in larger cities;[9] the newest one in Sosnowiec was opened on 1 April 2022.

As a rule of thumb, these will tend to be cases with high sums at stake, those about serious crimes, and those about intellectual property and personal rights.

[21] They are authorised to issue European arrest warrants (article 607a of KPK) and maintain a list of court experts for the district.

The Warsaw district court additionally reviews telecommunications, postal or Internet data surveillance requests from the central government organs, such as ABW or CBA.

[31] Sąd apelacyjny (translated as appeal court[5] by the Ministry of Justice), as the name suggests, primarily functions in appellate jurisdiction.