POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Tomasz Konopka, Katarzyna Randzio-Sajkowska and Jakub Kocuba, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
1. Legal Framework 1.1 International Conventions
area of reimbursement of medicines, set out in the Act of 12 May 2011 on the reimbursement of medicines, foodstuffs for special nutritional uses and medical devices. In addition, there are several other regulations that provide for anti- corruption mechanisms, such as the Law of 21 August 1997 on Restrictions on the Economic Activities of Persons Performing Public Func - tions. 1.3 Guidelines for the Interpretation and Enforcement of National Legislation There are no specific rules or guidelines addressed to judges or prosecutors regarding the interpretation and enforcement of national anti-bribery and anti-corruption legislation. Gen - eral rules are applicable. In other words, the same rules govern charging and filing an indictment in all kinds of matters, including corruption and bribery cases. A justi - fied suspicion of an offence is sufficient to start proceedings and collect evidence. The prosecu - tors have discretionary powers to decide if the examination of evidence provides grounds to charge/indict. The indictment is then verified in two-instance court proceedings. The court assesses the case at its own discre - tion, based on an examination of collected evi - dence. While imposing a penalty, the court also relies on its own discretion but always within the limits prescribed by law. The court is obliged to observe that the onerousness of a penalty does not exceed the degree of fault. When imposing the sentence, the court should take into account, in particular, such circumstances as the motiva - tion or behaviour of the perpetrator, the degree of breach of the obligations imposed on the per - petrator, the nature and extent of the negative consequences of the offence, the characteristics and personal circumstances of the perpetrator,
Poland is a party to a number of international conventions related to anti-bribery and anti- corruption. Poland was admitted to the European Coun - cil on 26 November 1991 and is a party to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption of the Council of Europe of 27 January 1999 (which started to apply in Poland on 1 April 2003) and Civil Law Convention on Corruption of the Coun - cil of Europe. Since 1 August 2014, Poland has been subject to the Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption. Poland ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption of 15 September 2006 and signed the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions of 17 December 1997. In addition, Poland is a member of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). As a member of the European Union, Poland also implemented a range of EU legal acts on combating corruption. 1.2 National Legislation The main national legislation in the area of anti- bribery and anti-corruption is the Polish Crimi - nal Code (CC), which provides for most offenc - es relating to corruption. In particular, the CC’s provisions regulate issues related to liability for official, international and business corruption. However, some offences related to bribery and corruption are laid down in separate regulations. For instance, liability for corruption in sport is provided for under the Act on Sport. There are also separate provisions on corruption in the
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