Anti-corruption in Poland: Legal and Economic Aspects

The article is devoted to the analysis of legal and economic aspects of counteracting corruption in Poland; it monitors the transformation of how corruption has been interpreted in criminal and socio-economic senses from the times of Polish People’s Republic to the present day. The role of anti-corruption institutions, including the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA), the Police, the Internal Security Agency, the Border Guard, the Military Gendarmerie and the Counterintelligence Service is also shown, with the efficiency of CBA activities being highlighted. The article pays attention to the variety of economic corruption forms and scrutinizes the methods of how corruption could be counteracted and prevented; the role of public organizations in this process should not be neglected. The concept of economic corruption is interpreted in the broad context of criminal legislation in Poland, and a detailed analysis of several court decisions on such corruption cases is presented. Having estimated the scale of corruption in Poland, the author concludes about significant progress in counteracting corruption from the time of Polish People’s Republic to the present, although infrastructure, public administration computerisation, the use of European Union funds, the defence sector, health, energy, environmental protection and services are still at a high risk of being corrupted.

Keywords: anti-corruption; Poland; Central Anti-Corruption Bureau; law; economics; prevention of corruption