What is the divorce case in Poland
The legal basis for the divorce decree is the provisions of the Civil Code. The very formula of divorce proceedings is individual, it can not be initiated, either ex officio or at the request of third parties or legal protection authorities. Despite personal prerequisites, the issuance of a divorce decree first requires a court trial that is initiated as a result of filing a petition by one of the spouses.
What does the divorce case look like?
It has a special form, the behavior here is the principle of privacy and individuality of the hearing, which means that the trial takes place without the participation of the public. The only participants in the court proceedings are the spouses, possibly their proxies and volunteers to participate, the so-called husbands of trust, or people indicated by the party to passively observe its course. Members of the family may also act as trustees, but also persons unrelated to the site in any way. The trial is conducted by a professional judge and two judges-jurors
The duration of the court proceedings in a divorce case is undefined and varied depending on the number of hearings conducted in a given case. The first hearing is of verification nature, the parties are asked questions about the family situation, running or not, a common household, the relationship between the spouse, the situation of children and the existence of chances to maintain a marriage. If the court finds a high probability of re-marriage, it will probably refer the matter to mediation proceedings.
The next stage is the interrogation of witnesses. This stage of the proceedings, also not clearly defined in time, only from the judge dealing with the matter, depends on whether this stage will start already at the first hearing, or whether witnesses will be called only for the next meeting. In addition, the number of witnesses reported for interrogation determines the number of hearings needed to hear each of them. As a rule, the witnesses of the party who filed the divorce petition are subjected first to the hearing, and only then the representatives of the defendant. Naturally, also at this stage, the parties have the right to take an active part in the proceedings, primarily by submitting evidence and asking questions to witnesses.
When the list of witnesses is exhausted, it is possible to hear the parties. At this stage, the spouses can refer to the assumptions made by the witnesses and present their own views on the state of the marital relationship.
The decision of the court takes the form of a judgment. It should be remembered that the breakdown of marital life is not the sole subject of a divorce hearing. The court also decides on the division of property, the establishment of maintenance, the withdrawal or limitation of parental authority, as well as contacts with children. The verdict is usually announced at the last hearing, but it can also be postponed to two weeks. The verdict of the court is the guilt of one of the parties. The exception is the situation in which the spouses decide to divorce themselves by agreement of the parties, without ruling on any of them.