POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Tomasz Konopka, Katarzyna Randzio-Sajkowska and Jakub Kocuba, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
insufficient. There is also no comprehensive leg - islation to protect whistle-blowers. Since 2007, the Working Group has warned that these defi - ciencies render Poland in non-compliance with the Convention. Equally concerning is Poland’s poor record of enforcing its foreign bribery laws. Judicial and prosecutorial independence is another enforcement-related concern. On the positive side, the OECD noted that the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau is an active and well- known institution in fighting corruption. It can play an important role in fighting foreign bribery if its remit is specifically extended. The General Inspector of Financial Information, the financial intelligence unit, has good working relations with its stakeholders. 9.2 Likely Changes to the Applicable Legislation of the Enforcement Body Poland held parliamentary elections in October 2023 and a new government, held by former opposition parties, was formed and a number of significant legislative changes are expected in the near future (eg, amendment of the Act on the Liability of Collective Entities for Acts Prohib - ited Under Penalty, liquidation of the CBA, and reforms related to the judicial system in Poland).
More recently, in October 2024, the Ministry of Justice announced that a draft law amending the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Pro- cedure had been included in the government’s legislative work list. The aim of the draft law is to introduce legislation that will: • strengthen the right to defence at all stages of the proceedings; • reduce the excessive use of temporary deten - tion; • prohibit the use of illegally-obtained evidence (eg, illegal wiretapping); • allow life imprisonment only with the possibil - ity of applying for conditional release; • increase the decision-making power of the courts towards reducing the decision-making power of the prosecutors, who will now be able to decide on a number of procedural issues; and • increase the penalty for obstructing or pre - venting a tender.
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