A breakthrough in transmission easement prescription cases: the Constitutional Tribunal has ruled and the Supreme Court is preparing a resolution

Owners of land crossed by power lines, gas pipelines or other transmission equipment may gain new ways of asserting their rights. The Constitutional Tribunal’s judgment of 2 December 2025 has called into question the existing practice of acquiring transmission easements by prescription. The expected resolution of the Supreme Court may now be of key importance.

Owners of land crossed by power lines, gas pipelines or other transmission equipment may gain new ways of asserting their rights. The Constitutional Tribunal’s judgment of 2 December 2025 has called into question the existing practice of acquiring transmission easements by prescription. The expected resolution of the Supreme Court may now be of key importance.

The Constitutional Tribunal sides with landowners

In its judgment of 2 December 2025, case no. P 10/16, the Constitutional Tribunal held unconstitutional the interpretation of the Civil Code that allowed transmission companies or the State Treasury to acquire by prescription, before 3 August 2008, a land easement corresponding in content to a transmission easement.

Until now, energy, gas and water companies have often relied on many years of use of other people’s land, claiming that they had acquired an easement by prescription. This allowed them to use the land without paying the owners remuneration for establishing an easement.

However, the provisions governing transmission easements were introduced into the Civil Code only on 3 August 2008. The Tribunal rejected the possibility of deriving from earlier provisions a right to acquire by prescription an easement corresponding to it in content.

Full text of the Constitutional Tribunal’s judgment – P 10/16 (in Polish)

The Supreme Court will resolve further doubts

The matter is not, however, definitively settled. A legal question registered under case no. III CZP 38/26 has been referred to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is to decide, above all, whether transmission companies could acquire an easement by prescription before 3 August 2008 and whether the period of use of the land before that date may be counted towards the period required to acquire a transmission easement by prescription.

This is particularly important for transmission infrastructure built back in the days of the Polish People’s Republic.

Despite the Constitutional Tribunal’s judgment, the case law of the courts remains inconsistent. A further issue is that the judgment has not been published in the Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw). The expected Supreme Court resolution may therefore significantly affect how such cases are decided.

According to information published by the daily “Rzeczpospolita”, the date of the Supreme Court sitting has not yet been set.

“Rzeczpospolita” article on the planned Supreme Court resolution (in Polish)

What does this mean for landowners?

The Constitutional Tribunal’s judgment may be of great importance to owners of land on which there are power poles, high-voltage lines, gas pipelines and other transmission equipment.

If a transmission company uses the land without an appropriate legal title, the owner may seek the establishment of a transmission easement for appropriate remuneration. Depending on the circumstances of the case, it may also be possible to pursue claims for the past use of the land.

This does not mean, however, that every owner will automatically receive compensation or remuneration. It is necessary to establish the legal status of the property, the date the equipment was installed and any administrative decisions or other legal titles held by the company.

The forthcoming Supreme Court decision may be of key importance to thousands of landowners in Poland, especially those who for decades have received no remuneration for the use of their land by transmission companies.