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Whistleblowing in Poland According to Legislation and Case Law

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Whistleblowing - A Comparative Study

Part of the book series: Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law ((GSCL,volume 16))

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Abstract

This chapter concerns the legal protection of whistleblowers in Poland. The author analyses the legislation and the case law concerning especially claims for the unfair dismissal and criminal proceedings for the defamation. The aim of this chapter is to present the current state of protection of persons who disclose irregularities in the organizations or companies and to detect the weaknesses of the present Polish legislation in order to recommend legal remedies helping to combat the malpractices with the aid of whistleblowers.

This paper is based on the Polish report to the XIXth International Congress of Comparative Law, Vienne, 20–26 VII 2014. See also D. Skupień, The legal protection of whistleblowers in Poland in Rapports polonais, XIX Congrès international de droit comparé, Lodz University Press, Lodz 2014, pp. 257–267.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The notion of ‘whistleblowing’ is often used in the Polish writing, see i.a. W. Rogowski, Whistleblowing, czyli czego się nie robi dla pozyskania zaufania inwestorów (Whistleblowing or anything that can be done to attract investors), Przegląd Corporate Governance 2/2007, A. Wojciechowska-Nowak, Whistleblowing u pracodawcy – system wczesnego ostrzegania w organizacji (Whistleblowing at the workplace – system of an early warning in the organization), Przegląd Służby Cywilnej 2/12, p. 53 and ff. or M. Derlacz-Wawrowska, Whistleblowing a ochrona informacji poufnych pracodawcy (Whistleblowing and the protection of the confidential information of the employer) in Prawo pracy. Refleksje i poszukiwania (Labour Law. Reflections and Searches), ed. G. Uścińska, Warsaw 2013, pp. 390–403. However, a domestic term ‘sygnalista’ (a signaller, a person who signals the irregularities) is proposed by experts.

  2. 2.

    Ombudsman’s letter of the 3rd March 2009, RPO-606960-III/09/RP/AF.

  3. 3.

    Rządowy Program Przeciwdziałania Korupcji na lata 2012–2016 (Governmental Programme of Combatting Corruption for the years 2012–2016), Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration), Warsaw 2011, pp. 22–23.

  4. 4.

    See A. Wojciechowska-Nowak, Założenia do ustawy o ochronie osób sygnalizujących nieprawidłowości w środowisku zawodowym. Jak polski ustawodawca może czerpać z doświadczeń państw obcych?, (Recommendations for the legal act on persons sygnalling irregularities in the professional environment. How Polish legislator may be inspired from the foreign countries’ experiences, Warsaw 2012, see www.batory.org.pl/ (accessed on the 14th January 2015).

  5. 5.

    Ratified by Poland 11/9/2002, entry into force 1/11/2003.

  6. 6.

    Ratified by Poland 11/12/2002, entry into force 1/4/2003.

  7. 7.

    See also A. Wojciechowska-Nowak, Ochrona sygnalistów w Polsce. Stan obecny i rekomendacje zmian, The protection of whistleblowers. ‘The present state and the recommendations of changes’, Instytut Spraw Publicznych, Warszawa 2012, p. 7.

  8. 8.

    Wojtas-Kaleta v Poland (2009) ECHR 20436/02 (Fourth Section 16 July 2009).

  9. 9.

    See M. Derlacz-Wawrowska, Whistleblowing a ochrona informacji poufnych pracodawcy (Whistleblowing and the protection of the confidential information of the employer), ibid., p. 401.

  10. 10.

    See CBOS, “Bohaterowie czy donosiciele? Co Polacy myślą o osobach ujawniających nieprawidłowości w miejscu pracy? (Heros or telltales? What do the Poles think about persons who denunciate irregularities at the workplace?), Warsaw, April 2012.

  11. 11.

    Art. 23 of the Polish Trade Unions’ Act of 1991.

  12. 12.

    See Art. 4 of the Law of the 24th June 1983 on the social labour inspection, Polish Journal of Laws (Dz. U.), 983.35.163.

  13. 13.

    For details about the scope of the board-level representation in Poland see i. a. D. Skupień, Board-level employee participation in Polish limited-liability companies, in Arbeitnehmerbeteiligung in Unternehmensorganen im internationalen Vergleich, ed. G. Löschnigg, Wien 2011, pp. 139–161.

  14. 14.

    See also M. Derlacz-Wawrowska, Whistleblowing a ochrona informacji poufnych pracodawcy (Whistleblowing and the protection of the confidential information of the employer) in Prawo pracy. Refleksje i poszukiwania (Labour Law. Reflections and Searches), ed. G. Uścińska, Warsaw 2013, pp. 397–398.

  15. 15.

    See the Judgment of Supreme Court of the 9th December 1999, case I PKN 435/99.

  16. 16.

    See the Ombudsman’s letter of the 3rd March 2009, RPO-606960-III/09/RP/AF, p. 4.

  17. 17.

    Judgment of Supreme Court of 23th May 1997, I PKN 176/97.

  18. 18.

    Decision of the Supreme Court of the 2nd February 2012, II PK 252/11.

  19. 19.

    Judgment of the Supreme Court of the 26th May 2011, II PK 304/10.

  20. 20.

    S. W. Ciupa, Niedozwolona krytyka pracodawcy ze strony pracownika jako przyczyna wypowiedzenia umowy o pracę, (Unacceptable criticism of the employer by the employee as a reason for the dismissal with notice), Monitor Prawniczy 20/2002.

  21. 21.

    Judgment of the Supreme Court of the 17th December 1997, I PKN 433/97.

  22. 22.

    See the judgment of the Supreme Court of the 5th December 2006, case II PK 112/06 or the judgment of the Supreme Court of the 5th October 2007, case II PK 31/07.

  23. 23.

    See Art. 943 § 2 of the Polish Labour Code.

  24. 24.

    Recommendation CM/Rec(2014)7 adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 30 April 2014 and explanatory memorandum, Protection of whistleblowers, point 3.

  25. 25.

    See also A. Wojciechowska-Nowak, Providing an Alternative to Silence. Towards Greater Protection and Support for Whistleblowers in the EU. Providing an Alternative to Silence, Country Report Poland, Transparency International 2013, p. 10.

  26. 26.

    See also A. Wojciechowska-Nowak, Providing an Alternative to Silence. Towards Greater Protection and Support for Whistleblowers in the EU, ibid., p. 11.

  27. 27.

    See Opinion 1/2006 (00195/06/EN) adopted on the 1st February 2006, p. 13.

  28. 28.

    See Opinion 1/2006, p. 14.

  29. 29.

    See e.g. the Supreme Court Resolution of the 17th April 2012, SNO 3/12, the judgment of the Supreme Court of the 30th September 2003, III KK 176/02.

  30. 30.

    See W. Kulesza, Zniesławienie i zniewaga (Defamation and insult), Warsaw 1984, pp. 71–72.

  31. 31.

    See the Supreme Court Decision of the 22nd June 2004, V KK 70/04.

  32. 32.

    See OECD Working Group on Bribery, Phase 3, Report on Implementing the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in Poland, June 2013, p. 42, www.oecd.org/daf/anti-bribery/Polandphase3reportEN.pdf.Accessed 14.01.2015. For partially critical opinion on the Polish legislation see also Transparency International, Whistleblowing in Europe. Legal protections for whistleblowers in the EU, 2013, pp. 69–70, www.transparency-france.org/e_upload/pdf/eu_whistleblower_report_final_web.pdf. Accessed 14.01.2015.

  33. 33.

    For the postulates see also A. Wojciechowska-Nowak, Providing an Alternative to Silence. Towards Greater Protection and Support for Whistleblowers in the EU. Providing an Alternative to Silence, Country Report Poland, Transparency International 2013, p. 17 and M. Derlacz-Wawrowska, Whistleblowing a ochrona informacji poufnych pracodawcy (Whistleblowing and the protection of the confidential information of the employer), ibid., p. 402.

  34. 34.

    Compare recommendations CM/Rec(2014)7, point 14.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Lodz, Kopcińskiego 8/12, 90-232, Łódź, Poland

    Dagmara Skupień

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  1. Institut fur Arbeitsrecht und Recht der, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Gregor Thüsing

  2. Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwalten mbB, Hengeler Mueller, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Gerrit Forst

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Skupień, D. (2016). Whistleblowing in Poland According to Legislation and Case Law. In: Thüsing, G., Forst, G. (eds) Whistleblowing - A Comparative Study. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25577-4_11

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