Remote Hearings in Civil Cases as a Response to the Crisis Situation Caused by COVID-19

Crisis situation induced by the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has influenced the way of organization of hearings in civil cases. Undoubtedly, the possibility of remote meetings that was introduced by the Act on special solutions related to the prevention, counteracting and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them, was a novelty in Polish civil procedure. The main research intention of the article was to assess the impact of the regulation caused by the crisis situation on the current wording of the provisions of civil procedure. Following the amendment of the Civil Procedure Code of 7 July 2023, the provisions of the Covid Act were implemented in this area into the Civil Procedure Code. The article focused on assessing the impact of civil proceedings with the use of remote hearings on the implementation of the principles of fair trial, in particular the principle of open proceedings. Risks associated with the use of sentencing that have arisen in practice and ways of avoiding them have also been identified.