With the new month, we would like to discuss planned changes in the law on which legislative work has begun or changes whose entry into force has already been confirmed by the legislator.
Repeal of regulations on the minimum number of parking spaces
At the end of July, the Act Amending the Act on Social Forms of Housing Development and Certain Other Acts, in the Act on Facilitating the Preparation and Implementation of Housing Investments and Accompanying Investments, repealed Article 17, Section 4a, Item 2, which stipulated that a residential investment must have a minimum number of parking spaces of at least 1.5 times the number of apartments planned for the investment. At the same time, the provision specifying that a residential investment located in a city center development must have a minimum number of parking spaces at least equal to the number of apartments planned for the investment was also repealed
At the same time, the municipal council was given the right to determine the number of parking spaces necessary to service a housing investment or the obligation to provide access to the heating network in municipal urban planning standards.
This amendment was passed on July 25, 2025, and is currently awaiting the President's signature . It will then enter into force two weeks after its publication in the Journal of Laws.
Increase in court fees in administrative court cases
In July, the Government Legislation Centre received a bill providing for an increase in court fees in cases before provincial administrative courts and the Supreme Administrative Court.
Currently, the amount of court fees is specified in the regulation on the amount and detailed rules for collecting fees in proceedings before administrative courts, in force since December 16, 2003 (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 535). Pursuant to the new regulation , the fee for a cassation appeal and for an appeal to reopen proceedings is to be equal to twice the fee for a complaint or twice the fee for an objection to a decision .
Furthermore, the bill introduces fees for cases where they were not previously charged. A permanent fee will be charged for appeals against rulings of the presiding judge, appeals against legally binding rulings of provincial administrative courts, and appeals against rulings of the Supreme Administrative Court, regardless of the subject matter of the contested ruling or ruling.
On the other hand, a broader category of cases will be covered by the permanent entry, including tax law cases.
The amendment assumes that two fixed rates will apply in construction and architecture matters: PLN 2,000 for matters concerning the issuance of a permit or approval of a building design , and PLN 1,000 for other matters . Furthermore, real estate matters will require a PLN 400 filing fee , while cases involving deprivation of rights to real estate or related compensation will require a PLN 1,000 filing fee.
Draft amendment to the Act on Administrative Court Procedure
The Council of Ministers also adopted a draft amendment to the Act on Administrative Court Procedure, submitted by the Minister of Justice, which is part of the so-called "deregulation package."
The new regulations aim to reduce the number of documents previously required to be submitted to administrative courts. Similar to civil procedure, if the court is able to independently verify electronically available public registers or lists, the parties to the proceedings will not be required to submit documents confirming their authorization.
If joint consideration of cases does not contribute to excessive prolongation of the proceedings and the issuance of a judgment, the court will have the option of combining several cases into one proceeding and issuing a single decision in the case.
Moreover, if the court upholds the appeal, the citizen will receive a refund of the court fee paid for the appeal.
The institution of the so-called "friend of the court" will also be introduced, which will enable the court to request a social organization or public administration body to present a view relevant to the case.
Changes to Integrated Investment Plans
As part of the latest amendment to the Spatial Planning and Development Act, which entered into force on September 24, 2023, the institution of the so-called Integrated Investment Plans (ZPI) was introduced, which we wrote about, among others, in the last two July articles #263 and #264 .
In July 2025, the government adopted another draft amendment, shortening the procedure for preparing an IPI. Under the current regulations, before commencing the preparation of an IPI, the investor was required to obtain the municipal council's consent to prepare the IPI. The amendment eliminates the requirement to obtain such consent. However, municipal councils will be obligated to establish guidelines for urban planning agreements concluded under the IPI procedure.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of August 4, 2025
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