Many people turn to lawyers during the most important moments in their lives: in court, defending themselves against accusations, or carrying out key civil law transactions (such as buying property). Lawyers are rightly trusted with regard to the speed and effectiveness of handling cases, as few people know what documents to file and within what deadlines to act. However, we rarely consider the terminology connecting the client and the lawyer. Is calling oneself a "client" legally correct? Who is a plaintiff, an authorised representative, and a subsidiary prosecutor?
💡 Key takeaways
- A Power of Attorney (general, specific type, or special) allows a professional representative to act before authorities as if the client themselves were personally present. The statutory terminology is "Principal" and "Attorney-in-fact".
- Following the Latin tradition of Roman law, the egalitarian terms are "Mandant" (the client commissioning the case) and "Mandatary" (the representative/lawyer). The word "client" in Rome meant a poor, subordinate person.
- In civil law in court, a client is either the "Plaintiff" (the person bringing the lawsuit) or the "Defendant" (the person defending against the lawsuit).
- In criminal law, the prosecutor is the "Public Prosecutor," and the client can be a "Suspect" (with charges laid), a "Defendant" (with an indictment filed with the Court), or as a victim, "Injured Party," "Auxiliary Prosecutor," or "Private Prosecutor."
The words "mandant" and "mandatariusz" originate from Latin ("mandare" - to entrust, to command). These are the perfectly paired terms describing the relationship of a modern client entrusting the reins to a specialist.
Klient u prawnika nazywa się mandant lub mocodawca. Powód to strona w procesie sądowym.
Power of attorney
Thanks to the institution described in Civil Codea legal advisor or lawyer can perform direct actions for their client, and these will have legal effects on them as if they had done it themselves (Art. 95 of the Civil Code). The resulting relationship is a relationship Principal – Agent.
Power of attorney is divided into three pillars:
- General – for the conduct of ordinary management activities, such as writing payment demands or reporting minor matters. Under penalty of invalidity, it requires ordinary written form.
- Generic – for a specific class of cases (e.g., a power of attorney to handle "the entire divorce case" and all related actions).
- Special – authorisation for a specific, exceptionally one-off and important legal act (e.g. a power of attorney to purchase a house abroad at the client's behest, which requires the more stringent form of a notarial deed).
Mandant – mandate holder
In today's language client is a very common and correct term. However, in the cards of ancient Rome (from which we draw the principles of Polish law in large handfuls), a "client" was a completely incapacitated subject, a poor person working for a magnate called a "patron." The hierarchical relationship was powerful in the "patron-client" relationship.
This is why the law introduced the neutral concept of "Mandatum" (a commission entrusted to an expert that requires diligence from them). Client is otherwise a client, stakeholder (who is an expert-level partner) and Mandatory, is a person who has been given certain burdens/duties, meaning a legal advisor.
In civil proceedings
On the court's hearing list in a civil case, a lawyer is a "Representative", and the main roles are assigned to:
- Powoda – the claimant, who files a lawsuit with a claim. (The claimant must provide evidence to support their claim).
- Defendant – persons targeted (who do not have to actively participate in the proceedings, although in the case of their "silent" inaction the court may still issue a judgment detrimental to them).
In criminal proceedings
It is completely different in the criminal investigation department. Here, the state "boss" is the Prosecutor (he represents the state apparatus of repression and ensures that criminals are held accountable for their actions ex officio).
suspect Suspect (has fewer rights and reduced protection), after being officially charged by the police, she becomes Suspicious (which include, among others, the rights to defence and the presumption of innocence), and at the end, from the document landing on the judge's desk, the name finally emerges Accused.
The victim is simply The injured party, but if, for example, the prosecution is slow and twice refuses to bring charges, the injured party, along with their legal counsel, can gather evidence and file an indictment themselves as a "Subsidiary Auxiliary Prosecutor".
Summary and fun fact
If you need a clear cheat sheet for complex vocabulary, it's worth remembering that from a linguistic perspective in state rooms:
- for barrister You are a Commissioner, Principal, or Client.
- for notary (or notary public) You are simply a Party to the deed.
- for judge You are dependent on the type of case, the Plaintiff, Defendant, or Accused.
- for bailiff (enforcer) You are a debtor, or a creditor seeking to recover debts.
- for legislative framework You are simply a private individual.