Civil law of obligation - first semester WP-PRZ-PCZ1

The aim of the course is to convey systematised knowledge of the institutions of the general part of the law of obligations, regulated in Book Three of the Polish Civil Code (Titles I–X), necessary both for analysing the individual nominate contracts in the special part and for applying civil law in judicial and advisory practice.
On completion of the lecture the student defines the concepts of obligation, debt and liability, performance and damage; characterises the sources of obligations – contract, tort and unjust enrichment – and the regimes of contractual and tort liability; explains the rules on performance of obligations and the consequences of non-performance or improper performance, plurality of parties, change of creditor and debtor, extinction of obligations and the instruments protecting the creditor and the weaker party; classifies contracts and performances; indicates the functions of the regulation and the directions of its change, including those resulting from European Union law.
The lecture takes into account the current case law of the Supreme Court and European and international model rules (DCFR, UNIDROIT Principles). It is correlated with the classes, which pursue the outcomes in skills and social competences.

Term 2025/26_Z:

None

(in Polish) Dyscyplina naukowa, do której odnoszą się efekty uczenia się

law

(in Polish) E-Learning

(in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy

(in Polish) Grupa przedmiotów ogólnouczenianych

(in Polish) nie dotyczy

Course coordinators

Dariusz Fuchs

(in Polish) Opis nakładu pracy studenta w ECTS

Term 2023/24_Z:

(in Polish) Udział w zajęciach: 30 h wykład Praca własna - lektura zadanej literatury i orzecznictwa: 70 h Suma godzin: 100 Liczba ECTS: 2 p. ECTS

Term 2024/25_Z:

(in Polish) Udział w zajęciach: 30 h wykład Praca własna - lektura zadanej literatury i orzecznictwa: 70 h Suma godzin: 100 Liczba ECTS: 2 p. ECTS

Term 2025/26_Z:

(in Polish) Udział w wykładzie: 30h Lektura literatury: 30h Przygotowanie do zaliczenia: 10h Suma: 70 h 2 ECTS

Term 2026/27_Z:

Participation in lectures: 16 h Reading of the literature and analysis of legal acts: 20 h Preparation for the examination: 14 h Total: 50 h Number of ECTS credits: 50 h / 25 h = 2 ECTS

Subject level

elementary

Learning outcome code/codes

PR_W01, PR_W02, PR_W04, PR_W06, PR_W07, PR_W08, PR_W09

Type of subject

obligatory

Preliminary Requirements

Formal requirements: prior credit for the classes and passed examinations in Civil Law – General Part and Property Law. Substantive requirements: in particular, well-established knowledge is required of the subjects of civil-law relationships (legal capacity and capacity for juridical acts), the theory of juridical acts (including the rules on making and interpreting declarations of intent, the form of juridical acts, defects in declarations of intent, condition and time limit), representation, and the effect of lapse of time (limitation and preclusive time limits). In addition, the student should understand the specific nature of civil-law relationships and have an initial ability to analyse doctrinally the provisions of Book One of the Civil Code, which is the necessary foundation for understanding how obligations arise and are performed.

Learning outcomes

The lecture pursues learning outcomes in the area of knowledge; outcomes in skills and social competences are pursued in the classes.
EW1 (PR_W01) — The student defines the basic concepts of the general part of the law of obligations (obligation, debt and liability, performance, damage, fault, default) and characterises the place of the law of obligations within civil law.
Method of verification: written examination.
EW2 (PR_W02) — The student lists and characterises the sources of the law of obligations (the Civil Code, special statutes, European Union law) and the nature of its norms, indicating their origins – from the 1933 Code of Obligations to the regulation in force.
Method of verification: written examination.
EW3 (PR_W04) — The student explains the construction and operation of the institutions of the general part of the law of obligations (contract and its conclusion, torts, unjust enrichment, performance and the consequences of non-performance, plurality of parties, change of creditor and debtor, extinction of obligations, actio Pauliana), identifying the relations between them.
Method of verification: written examination.
EW4 (PR_W06) — The student classifies the sources of obligations, performances, obligational contracts, types of damage and the principles of liability for damages, indicating the criteria of division and the legal effects of a given qualification; lists the legal information systems used to establish the state of the law and case law.
Method of verification: written examination.
EW5 (PR_W07) — The student characterises the methods of interpreting and applying the provisions of the law of obligations, including the interpretation of contracts (Article 65 § 2 of the Civil Code) and EU-conforming interpretation, and the IT tools supporting the establishment of the law in force.
Method of verification: written examination.
EW6 (PR_W08) — The student explains the functions of the law of obligations in transactions (freedom of contract and its limits, the compensatory function of liability for damages, protection of the consumer and the weaker party, protection of the creditor) and justifies the solutions adopted by the legislature.
Method of verification: written examination.
EW7 (PR_W09) — The student indicates and discusses the directions of change in the general part of the law of obligations, including those resulting from the implementation of consumer directives and the new directive on liability for defective products, and proposals de lege ferenda.
Method of verification: written examination.

Assessment criteria

Form and conditions of assessment
The lecture ends with a written examination consisting of 5 descriptive or problem questions. Admission to the examination requires a prior positive grade in the classes (at least 3.0). A pass requires correct answers to at least 3 of the 5 questions. The final grade for the lecture is based solely on the examination result.
Grading: 3 correct answers – grade 3.0; 4 correct answers – grade 4.0; 5 correct answers – grade 5.0. Grades 3.5 and 4.5 are awarded where, respectively, the fourth or the fifth answer is only partially correct. Fewer than 3 correct answers – grade 2.0.
The resit examination is held under the same rules.

General grade descriptors (applied to each learning outcome EW verified by the examination)
Grade 2.0 — the student has not achieved the learning outcome: does not know the basic concepts and institutions covered by the outcome.
Grade 3.0 — the student knows the basic concepts and institutions in general outline, but is unable to indicate the relations between them or to place them in a broader systemic context.
Grade 3.5 — the student knows the concepts and institutions to a satisfactory degree and notices the relations between them, but analyses them in a reproductive manner.
Grade 4.0 — the student knows and understands the concepts and institutions, correctly indicates their systemic relations and the current tendencies de lege lata.
Grade 4.5 — the student demonstrates good, systematised knowledge, moves freely among the institutions and refers to selected case law and scholarly views.
Grade 5.0 — the student demonstrates complete, systematised knowledge, independently and critically assesses the regulation with reference to the case law of the Supreme Court and legal scholarship, and formulates assessments de lege ferenda.

Learning outcomes verified: EW1 (PR_W01), EW2 (PR_W02), EW3 (PR_W04), EW4 (PR_W06), EW5 (PR_W07), EW6 (PR_W08), EW7 (PR_W09) – as described in the field "Learning outcomes".

Bibliography

Required reading:
Z. Radwański, A. Olejniczak, J. Grykiel, Zobowiązania – część ogólna, 17th ed., C.H. Beck, Warszawa 2026 (or a later edition).

Supplementary reading:
A. Brzozowski, J. Jastrzębski, M. Kaliński, E. Skowrońska-Bocian, Zobowiązania. Część ogólna, 5th ed., Wolters Kluwer, Warszawa 2024 (or a later edition);
W. Czachórski, A. Brzozowski, M. Safjan, E. Skowrońska-Bocian, Zobowiązania. Zarys wykładu, 11th ed., Wolters Kluwer, Warszawa 2009;
K. Osajda (ed.), System Prawa Prywatnego, vol. 5, Prawo zobowiązań – część ogólna, 3rd ed., C.H. Beck, Warszawa 2019 (or a later edition);
A. Olejniczak (ed.), System Prawa Prywatnego, vol. 6, Prawo zobowiązań – część ogólna, 4th ed., C.H. Beck, Warszawa 2023 (or a later edition);
E. Gniewek, P. Machnikowski (eds), Kodeks cywilny. Komentarz, 12th ed., C.H. Beck, Warszawa 2025 (or a later edition);
K. Pietrzykowski (ed.), Kodeks cywilny, vol. I, Komentarz. Art. 1–449¹⁰, and vol. II, Komentarz. Art. 450–1088. Przepisy wprowadzające, 10th ed., C.H. Beck, Warszawa 2020 (or a later edition);
G. Bieniek, H. Ciepła, S. Dmowski, J. Gudowski, K. Kołakowski, M. Sychowicz, T. Wiśniewski, C. Żuławska, Komentarz do Kodeksu cywilnego. Księga trzecia. Zobowiązania, vols I–II, LexisNexis, Warszawa 2011;
J. Rajski, Prawo o kontraktach w obrocie gospodarczym, Warszawa 2002.

Legal acts: ustawa z dnia 23 kwietnia 1964 r. – Kodeks cywilny (Book Three, Titles I–X) – as currently in force; ustawa z dnia 30 maja 2014 r. o prawach konsumenta; case law of the Supreme Court indicated during the course.

Term 2025/26_Z:

None

Notes

Term 2025/26_Z:

None

Term 2026/27_Z:

Students who have been granted an Individual Organisation of Studies are requested to contact the teacher (lecture and classes) at the beginning of the semester. Office hours and their venue are published on the teacher's profile in USOSweb. Current organisational information is provided via MS Teams.

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Law - part-time master studies

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of WP-PRZ-PCZ1 in USOSweb