Published: 2025-06-30

The alternative claim: comments on the need for a regulation on this institution in procedural law

Tadeusz Zembrzuski

Abstract


The institution of the alternative claim is part of the broadly defined range of accumulated procedural claims. Many litigants initiating judicial proceedings in civil law cases are interested in the option of raising alternative claims in the event of the court failing to grant their principal claim. This is a manifestly precautionary approach chosen by parties who, while seeking legal protection, are uncertain of the consequences of their choice of a procedural claim. The strategy increases the chances of the claim being upheld, and of avoiding the need for further proceedings in court. There is an inherent procedural affiliation between principal and alternative claim rulings, as the court can only rule on a subsidiary claim once the principal claim has been dismissed. These two types of claim are considered separate procedural measures, regardless of whether they have identical or different factual and/or legal grounds. The complexity of the procedural construction becomes apparent in appellate proceedings designed to verify claim accuracy. The essence of alternative claims in juxtaposition to principal claims does not arise directly from the provisions of the Polish Code of Civil Procedure, the admissibility of their construction, or the ultimate adjudication, but instead come from an established body of doctrine and case law. A proposal for the introduction of statutory mechanisms should be put forward, including explicit recognition of claim admissibility, and the courts should be bound to observe unambiguous rules for the order of claims presented by parties to judicial proceedings.

Keywords:

alternative claim, the dispositive principle, accumulated claims, provisions binding courts to consider claims as fled by parties, economy of proceedings

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Citation rules

Zembrzuski, T. (2025). The alternative claim: comments on the need for a regulation on this institution in procedural law. Zeszyty Prawnicze, 25(2), 27–48. Retrieved from https://czasopisma.uksw.edu.pl/index.php/zp/article/view/15565

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