The commented judgment concerns the so-called inexcusable error. In Polish law this concept has been distinguished in legal scholarship and jurisprudence, but it is not understood uniformly. It is still debatable whether the erring entity, if they contributed to the error, can allege such an error. It may turn out that the negative consequences of the error will be borne by the other party to the legal transaction against payment, which party in principle cannot be held responsible for the error.
According to the Supreme Court, an error will not be „inexcusable” (it will be material) subject to two conditions: if the erring party’s contribution is not serious and if the addressee of the declaration of intent (which is affected by the erring party’s error) contributed to causing the error to a greater than negligible extent. According to the Supreme Court, this is required by the principle of balancing the interests of the parties regulated in Article 84 of the Civil Code.
Meanwhile, the commentator believes that the qualification whether an error meets the criteria to be considered legally material should be determined solely by the determination of the fault of the addressee of the declaration of intent. If the addressee’s fault is greater than negligible, this will not allow the error to be considered inexcusable. In order to qualify an error as inexcusable, it should not matter to what extent the erring party themselves contributed to causing it.