Civil and Procedural Instruments of the Consumer Protection on the Retail Electricity Market—Original Polish Model

Abstract

In the article, the authors present the specificity of the Polish retail electricity market, shaped to a considerable extent by the provisions of European Union law. The main feature of this market is granting special legal protection to individual final customers (referred to by the legislator as “household customers”) who have obtained the status of consumers in the Polish legal system. The essence of the study is not only to analyze the subjective and quantitative aspects of this market, but, above all, to analyze the civil law measures protecting these electricity consumers. These aspects constitute a unique legal structure, which is a continuation of the administrative proceedings before the President of the Energy Regulatory Office (regulatory entity). The Court of Competition and Consumer Protection (hereinafter referred to as the Court of Protection) is a specialized civil court that hears appeals against decisions of the regulatory entity, the subjects of which are actions or omissions of professional participants of the retail electricity market, which infringe the collective interests of consumers (“household customers”) as individual final customer on this market.