Measures of Cross-Border ‘Protection of Adults’ (Guardianship, Curatorship, Incapacitation or Similar, and Register): Development of Polish Law and EU Proposals of 2023

In 2023, the EU Commission announced a proposal for an EU Regulation on the international protection of adults. In terms of EU treaties’ terminology, these are areas of judicial cooperation in civil matters. The idea of those intra-EU legal solutions generally presupposes making the Hague Convention of 2000[1] applicable in all EU Member States. The objective of this legislative initiative is to issue a supplementary EU regulation concerning domestic jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgements. It is necessary to discuss and evaluate them in particular from the perspective of the current law of a Member State (e.g. Part Four of the Civil Procedure Code), as well as to indicate the global international agreements (that is, the 1905 and 2000 Hague Conventions and numerous bilateral conventions) and the Act of 2011 on Private International Law. In the current conflict-of-law state of play (e.g. in Poland, without applying the 2000 Convention), Articles 1106[1] and 1107 of the Civil Procedure Code (after the 2009 amendment) are of key importance for determining national jurisdiction (international jurisdiction of courts) in incapacitation cases and guardianship or curatorship. These cases fall within the scope of application of domestic rules on private international law. In particular, Article 13 of Private International Law, covering incapacitation, and Article 60 PIL, regarding guardianship, are crucial for determining the applicable law in guardianship cases. Additionally, the author identifies issues for further study on the EU proposals of 2023 versus the domestic current state of play, including implications of terminological changes, the broad scope of the ’protection measure’, and the issue of linking to the 2006 UN Convention.