Cross-Border Jurisdictional Protocol
Poland has objected to Article 8 and to Article 10 in its entirety, so service must proceed through the Central Authority, the Ministry of Justice's Department of International Cooperation and Human Rights in Warsaw. The Central Authority itself does not serve documents directly; it forwards requests to the competent Polish court, which executes service by post, bailiff, or a court official, or by handing the document to the addressee directly in the court registry. Documents should generally be translated into Polish, though under the Polish Code of Civil Procedure, an untranslated document can still be served if the addressee voluntarily chooses to accept it.
We submit the request to the Department of International Cooperation and Human Rights at Poland's Ministry of Justice, which forwards it to the competent local court for execution.
Start a Poland Central Authority filing →While an untranslated document can be served if the addressee voluntarily accepts it, a certified Polish translation gives a much stronger, enforceable form of service that doesn't depend on the addressee's cooperation.
Prepare a compliant translation →Poland permits service by a particular method requested by the applicant, including through police officers or a notary, offering flexibility beyond the default court-executed process.
Discuss method-specific service →Complete National Jurisdiction
Active network of local agents, court officers, and Central Authority specialists covering every administrative region.
All international document handoffs are executed pursuant to local sovereignty statutes and returned with court-certified evidentiary declarations.
Judicial Knowledge Base
No, not directly from abroad. Poland has objected to Article 10 in its entirety, so requests must go through the Ministry of Justice's Central Authority, which forwards them to a competent Polish court for execution.
Generally, yes — documents should be translated into Polish. However, under Article 1135 of the Polish Code of Civil Procedure, an untranslated document can still be served if the addressee voluntarily agrees to accept it.
The Central Authority itself does not serve documents. It forwards the request to the competent local court, which executes service by post, bailiff, court official, or by handing the document to the addressee in the court registry.
Typically two to three months from receipt of the request to issuance of the certificate of service.
There is no formal fee, though the requesting party generally bears postage costs, which are not reimbursed by Polish courts.
Consult with our international legal support specialists about service of process in Poland.