POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Tomasz Konopka, Katarzyna Randzio-Sajkowska, Katarzyna Stradomska-Balcerzyk and Michał Zieliński, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
2. Enforcement 2.1 White-Collar Enforcement Authorities White-collar crimes are prosecuted by public prosecu - tors in conjunction with the support of the police, the Internal Security Agency, the Central Anti-corruption Bureau, the Central Investigation Bureau, the Border Guard, the Military Police (within a very narrow scope), the Tax Offices, the National Tax Administration, the Tax Administration Chambers, and the Tax and Cus - toms Offices. In the enforcement agencies, there are specialised divisions that deal with particular types of crime, including white-collar crimes. However, the public prosecutors and courts usually handle all types of criminal cases, and there are no dedicated court - rooms for white-collar crimes. There are no civil/administrative enforcement agen - cies for white-collar crime. However, some activities falling within the scope of white-collar crime are also examined by the regulators, including infringements of antitrust laws, consumer-protection violations, and regulations of stock companies and financial institu - tions, as well as energy laws. Regulatory authorities are permitted to proceed with their cases in accord - ance with administrative law but may also file a notifi - cation of an offence with the public prosecutor. 2.2 Initiating an Investigation An investigation is initiated if there is a justified sus - picion that an offence was committed. A decision to initiate the investigation is issued ex officio or upon notification filed by any other party. The notifying party does not need to be harmed by the offence to effi - ciently file the notification; however, the harmed party has much wider procedural rights than a sole notifying party. In general, there are no special rules or guidelines gov - erning the initiation of an investigation. However, the Public Prosecutor General is entitled to issue guide - lines for prosecutors that may be relevant to prac - tice. For example, the Guidelines of 10 August 2017 concern VAT frauds and other tax evasion offences; according to the Guidelines, these cases should be handled by prosecutors who specialise in combat -
sion of the crime and their behaviour after the com - mission of the crime. The CC also states that the court should, in particular, consider the perpetrator’s efforts to redress the damage or to satisfy the public sense of justice in any other form, as well as the harmed party’s conduct. The court is also expected to take into considera - tion the positive results of the mediation between the harmed party and the perpetrator or the settlement they have reached during the proceedings held before a court or a public prosecutor. Nevertheless, there are no specific rules or guidelines addressed to the judges regarding the assessment of penalties in the event of a deferred prosecution agreement, non-prosecution agreement or plea agreement. 1.7 Damages and Compensation Victims of a white-collar crime may seek compensa - tion based on both civil and criminal law. The choice of civil or criminal proceedings would determine the jurisdiction of a civil or criminal court. Pursuant to Article 46 Section 1 of the CC, in the event of a conviction, the court may order the offender to partially or fully remedy any damage caused by the offence or compensate for any injury. Ordering the compensation is obligatory if a pertinent motion has been filed by the harmed party or the prosecutor. The criminal court will apply the civil law rules while decid - ing on the compensation. There is no class action available in criminal pro - cedure. A harmed party may join the dispute as an auxiliary prosecutor together with the public pros - ecutor; however, the court may limit the number of auxiliary prosecutors if it is necessary to secure a cor - rect course for the proceedings. The court will decide that a subsidiary prosecutor cannot participate in the proceedings if the maximum number of prosecu - tors defined by the court is already involved. Seeking remedies through class actions is, however, possible under civil law regulations.
232 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook