The Polish and Georgian legal systems come from one family, both continental, under the influence of the German and French tradition, and Poland's 1964 Civil Code, amended many times and aligned with EU law, is structurally a relative of the Georgian Civil Code, which makes terminological translation easier. But the Polish labour market, where tens of thousands of Georgians work, with three different types of contract, a new work permit regime and the strict requirement of a sworn translator, makes legal translation a daily necessity, while healthcare, with the NFZ system, electronic prescriptions and electronic certificates of incapacity for work, calls for its own terminology. To this is added the danger of Russian false friends. On this page we describe which documents occur most often, where the traps are and how we work.
The sources of Polish law a translator must know
Poland's Civil Code (Kodeks cywilny, k.c.) covers civil, contract, property and inheritance law; employment relations are regulated by the Labour Code (Kodeks pracy, k.p.), companies by the Code of Commercial Companies (Kodeks spółek handlowych, k.s.h.), family relations by the Family and Guardianship Code (k.r.o.), criminal law by the Criminal Code (k.k.), and the affairs of foreigners by the Act on Foreigners and the new 2025 legislation on employment. The court system covers the district (sąd rejonowy), regional (sąd okręgowy), appellate (sąd apelacyjny) and Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy), with separate administrative courts (WSA, NSA). In the translation references to the law ("art. 471 k.c.", "art. 52 k.p.") must pass so that a Georgian lawyer can identify the source, and where a Polish institution finds no analogue in Georgian, an explanation is attached.
Contracts: the terminology of the k.c. and the Georgian code
A Polish contract is structurally close to a Georgian one: strony umowy (the parties), przedmiot umowy (the subject), wynagrodzenie i warunki płatności (remuneration and payment), prawa i obowiązki (rights and duties), odpowiedzialność (liability), rozwiązanie umowy (termination), postanowienia końcowe (final provisions). Terminological accuracy still requires a specialist: kara umowna is a contractual penalty, odszkodowanie compensation for damage, odstąpienie od umowy withdrawal from the contract with retroactive effect, wypowiedzenie termination with a notice period, zwłoka culpable delay (unlike opóźnienie, which is simple lateness), poręczenie suretyship, zastaw pledge, hipoteka mortgage, siła wyższa force majeure. The types of contract, umowa sprzedaży (sale), umowa o dzieło (contract for a specific work), umowa najmu (lease), umowa pożyczki (loan), umowa zlecenia (mandate), are linked to the exact concepts of the Georgian Civil Code. In the case of a bilingual contract we compare both versions clause by clause and advise that the clause on the prevailing version be written clearly.
Labour law: three contracts, the work permit, ZUS
For a Georgian worker the most important legal distinction in Poland is between three contracts: umowa o pracę is an employment contract with the full protection of the Labour Code, with leave, a notice period and full ZUS insurance; umowa zlecenia is a civil law mandate contract, with partial insurance and without the Labour Code; umowa o dzieło is a contract for a specific work, without social insurance. Employers often offer umowa zlecenia or o dzieło, and a Georgian worker who cannot see the difference loses rights; the translation reflects this difference clearly. The move to a full work permit regime from December 2025 tied the conditions of the contract strictly to the conditions of the permit: the pay, the position and the employer must match what is stated in the permit, or the employment is unlawful. The translation of an employment contract, of a termination (wypowiedzenie), of a disciplinary dismissal (zwolnienie dyscyplinarne, art. 52 k.p.) and of labour dispute documents is the only way for a Georgian worker to understand their rights in reality; a voivode's refusal (decyzja odmowna) with its appeal deadline is translated in express mode.
Corporate documents: the KRS, spółka z o.o., prokurent
- Umowa spółki or akt założycielski: the founding agreement or the act of a sole founder, where the organs of a spółka z o.o. or an S.A., the zgromadzenie wspólników or walne zgromadzenie (the meeting), the zarząd (management board), the rada nadzorcza (supervisory board), must be linked to the structure of a Georgian LLC and JSC;
- Odpis z KRS: the extract of the National Court Register, with the data on the power of signature (sposób reprezentacji) and the capital;
- Wydruk z CEIDG: the extract of the register of sole traders, which is the form many Georgian entrepreneurs in Poland use;
- Pełnomocnictwo and prokura: a power of attorney and a procuration, a special commercial representation that needs an explanation with its Georgian equivalent;
- Umowa o zachowaniu poufności (NDA): a confidentiality agreement, with the terminology of RODO (the Polish name of the GDPR);
- Sprawozdanie finansowe and sprawozdanie z badania: financial statements and the auditor's report, by the standards of the Polish accounting act (ustawa o rachunkowości).
Real estate: the księga wieczysta and a sale before a notary
Poland's real estate register, the land and mortgage registers (księgi wieczyste), is kept by the courts and is available online to anyone by number, which resembles the logic of the Georgian Public Registry, but the structure differs: four sections (dział I-IV), the description of the property, ownership, rights and restrictions, mortgage. For a Georgian buyer purchasing a flat in Warsaw or Krakow, or for an heir, the translation of a księga wieczysta extract is prepared with this structure kept and explained; in Poland the sale of real estate is valid only in the form of a notarial deed (akt notarialny), and the translation of a notarial deed, with the notary's formulas and the description of the fees, is a genre of its own. In the opposite direction a Georgian Public Registry extract and a sale contract are translated into Polish for a Polish investor, notary or court, where Georgian forms of ownership pass with the property law terms of the k.c. (własność, użytkowanie wieczyste, służebność, hipoteka, współwłasność).
Family law and inheritance
A Polish divorce judgment (wyrok rozwodowy) also decides, where there are children, the questions of parental authority (władza rodzicielska), contact (kontakty) and maintenance (alimenty), and the question of fault (orzeczenie o winie), which is foreign to the Georgian system and needs an explanation; for a Georgian spouse its recognition in Georgia requires a decision translated into Georgian and notarised. The Polish family code also knows "separacja", a legal separation without divorce, which does not exist in Georgian law. In inheritance cases Polish succession proceedings take place in court (postanowienie o stwierdzeniu nabycia spadku) or before a notary (akt poświadczenia dziedziczenia), and a document of either form is translated for a Georgian heir; a Georgian will, certificate of inheritance and documents confirming kinship are prepared in Polish for a Polish notary, with a sworn or consular certification and an apostille.
Criminal law, the KRK and enforcement
A Polish criminal record certificate (zaświadczenie o niekaralności z Krajowego Rejestru Karnego) is translated for residence, employment or adoption procedures in Georgia, while a Georgian criminal record certificate is translated for the voivodeship office and a Polish employer and certified by a sworn translator or a consul. In criminal law terminology the Polish przestępstwo (crime), wykroczenie (misdemeanour), akt oskarżenia (indictment), wyrok (judgment), warunkowe zawieszenie (suspended sentence), grzywna (fine), zakaz prowadzenia pojazdów (driving ban) must be linked exactly to the concepts of the Georgian Criminal Code, and it is here that the Russian false friendship of "zakaz" is most dangerous. The Polish enforcement system is built on court bailiffs (komornik sądowy), and enforcement documents (tytuł wykonawczy, zawiadomienie o wszczęciu egzekucji) are translated with an explanation for a Georgian debtor or creditor.
Court proceedings in Poland with Georgian documents
When a Georgian document is presented in a Polish court, the court requires a translation certified by a sworn translator, and this requirement is defined directly by the code of civil procedure; sworn translators of the Georgian language exist in Poland, and the court has the right to appoint an interpreter in the case itself. In practice we prepare a Georgian document intended for a court in two ways: either with a translation formatted for certification by Poland's consul, which has the force of a sworn translation, or in a version prepared for a sworn translator in Poland, which speeds up their certification procedure. Our legal translation for a Polish court is prepared to the format requirements of a sworn translation, and the routes of legalisation are described on the notarised translation page.
Medical translation: the NFZ and Poland's healthcare system
Polish healthcare is built on the compulsory insurance of the National Health Fund (NFZ), with identification by PESEL, electronic prescriptions (e-recepta), electronic referrals (e-skierowanie) and electronic certificates of incapacity for work (e-ZLA), which are kept in the patient's internet account (IKP). A Polish medical document, the karta informacyjna leczenia szpitalnego (hospital discharge), zaświadczenie lekarskie (medical certificate), wynik badania (test result), konsultacja specjalistyczna (specialist's opinion), is structured and loaded with abbreviations (OB, CRP, RTG, USG, EKG, TK, RM), and for a Georgian doctor these abbreviations are expanded to their full form. Polish medical language uses Latin terminology as Georgian does, diagnoses are written in Latin and Polish in parallel and pass with ICD-10 codes, medicines are stated by trade name, often of Polish manufacturers, and in the translation we add the international non-proprietary name and the ATC code.
Georgian doctors in Poland: nostrification and the LEK
The licensing of a Georgian doctor in Poland requires the nostrification of the foreign diploma at a Polish medical university, passing the state medical examination (LEK) in Polish, confirmation of knowledge of Polish at the medical chamber and registration at the district medical chamber (okręgowa izba lekarska); for nurses an analogous procedure operates through the nurses' chamber. The package includes the diploma, the supplement, a detailed description of the curriculum with hours and credits, specialisation documents, certificates of work experience and a criminal record certificate, all with a Polish translation, a sworn or consular certification and an apostille. The translation of the curriculum is the most voluminous part of this package, where the subjects of Georgian medical education must be fitted to the terminology of Polish medical universities' curricula, because the nostrification committee compares exactly the programmes and, where there are differences, sets additional examinations.
A Georgian epicrisis for a Polish doctor
In the opposite direction a Georgian medical document, an epicrisis, form 100, a test report, is translated for a Polish doctor when a Georgian patient is treated in Poland, presents a health certificate for a work permit, backs up a certificate of incapacity for work with a Georgian medical history while working in Poland, or submits a health certificate on admission to a Polish medical university. The Georgian and Polish medical traditions use Latin diagnoses in the same way, which makes the translation easier, but a lengthy Georgian narrative must be fitted to the logic of a Polish structured record; in the translation we keep the Latin, add the Polish clinical term where a Polish doctor expects it, and state the ICD-10 code. The health certificate for a work permit and residence is prepared to the requirements of the Polish form.
The pharmaceutical industry: URPL and European registration
Poland is the pharmaceutical centre of Central Europe, with the production of Polpharma, Adamed and international companies, and Polish preparations are actively present on the Georgian market. For registration they need Georgian documentation: the summary of product characteristics (charakterystyka produktu leczniczego, ChPL), the patient leaflet (ulotka dla pacjenta), quality certificates (GMP), the registration documents of Poland's Office for Registration of Medicinal Products (URPL) and the European agency (EMA), summaries of clinical trials. These texts follow the terminology of EU regulation in the Polish official version, which must correspond to the requirements of the Georgian agency, and we work with terminology bases and translation memory. Poland is also a European centre of clinical trials, and the translation of protocols, informed consent forms and bioethics committee documents is performed in both directions.
Insurance cases and incapacity for work
A Polish tourist who receives medical assistance in Georgia's mountains or in Tbilisi presents to their travel insurer a Georgian clinic's epicrisis, invoice and receipts with a Polish translation, where the medical procedures, preparations and lines of costs must read unambiguously; because of the scale of mountain tourism this is one of our frequent orders. For a Georgian working in Poland the electronic certificate of incapacity for work (e-ZLA), ZUS decisions on benefits (zasiłek chorobowy), documents of an accident at work (wypadek przy pracy) and pension matters are translated into Georgian, while a Georgian medical history, if it is needed for the case, is translated into Polish. In both cases we observe a strict confidentiality protocol and, at the insurer's request, certify the translation before a notary or a consul.
Who translates and how we check
Polish legal and medical texts with us go to translators of double qualification: legal documents are worked on by specialists who have a legal education or experience in Polish legal practice, medical texts by those translators who command medical terminology in both languages, often graduates of Poland's medical universities. Every translation is checked by an editor, with separate control of figures, dates, names, diacritics, abbreviations, types of contract and, in the Polish pair especially, Russian false friends. In high-risk documents, medicine dosage, the operative part of a judgment, the liability clause of a contract, we additionally offer review by a lawyer or a doctor.
Deadlines, confidentiality, certification
A standard legal or medical document of a few pages is ready in one or two working days, express mode works in both directions, and we work with priority within the deadlines of a work permit, an appeal or an employer. Every translator and editor works under a signed confidentiality agreement, medical and court files are kept in a secure system and deleted within the agreed period. Court decisions, powers of attorney, company documents and the nostrification package almost always need legalisation, from the Georgian side notarisation and an apostille, from the Polish side a sworn translator's or a consul's certification, which we establish before the order; the details are on the notarised translation page.
What we do not do
A translation is an exact reflection of the original: we do not change the content, do not "correct" the original's mistakes and do not add legal or medical advice. If a Polish umowa zlecenia contains conditions unfavourable to a Georgian worker, it passes into the translation exactly, and our remark is delivered to you separately. If the description of a Georgian curriculum is incomplete for the nostrification committee, the translation will not hide this, but we will tell the client what may additionally be required. This transparency is exactly the reason attorneys, clinics, employers and pharmaceutical companies return to us repeatedly in Polish matters.
Frequently asked questions
How do umowa o pracę, umowa zlecenia and umowa o dzieło differ?
An employment contract gives the full protection of the Labour Code and full ZUS insurance, a mandate contract partial insurance without the Labour Code, and a contract for a specific work provides no social insurance at all. The translation reflects this difference clearly, because for a Georgian worker this is a matter of rights.
Which documents must I translate to work as a doctor in Poland?
The diploma, the supplement, a detailed description of the curriculum, specialisation documents, certificates of work experience and a criminal record certificate, all with a Polish translation, a sworn or consular certification and an apostille, for nostrification, for the LEK and for registration at the medical chamber.
Are zwłoka and opóźnienie the same thing?
No. Zwłoka is culpable delay, which gives rise to liability, while opóźnienie is simple lateness without fault. In the Georgian translation this distinction must pass exactly in the contract's liability clause.
What do you do with abbreviations and the names of medicines in a Polish medical record?
We expand the abbreviations (OB, CRP, RTG, USG, TK, RM) to their full form, keep the trade names and add the international non-proprietary name and the ATC code, carry the diagnoses over with ICD-10 codes and keep the Latin diagnoses, because both traditions use them.
How long does the translation of a voivode's refusal take?
The appeal deadline is often 14 days, so we translate such documents in express mode, in one or two working days, so that you have time left for a consultation with a lawyer.
Do medical records need notarisation?
Usually not, if they are for continuing treatment. Medical documents to be presented in insurance, court, immigration or nostrification matters, as a rule, need legalisation, from the Georgian side notarisation and an apostille, from the Polish side a sworn translator's or a consul's certification.