Updated: 13.03.2025
Key legal framework for criminal law in Poland
The fundamental legal acts which regulate Polish criminal law and white collar crime are as follows:
- Polish Penal Code of 6th June, 1997 (Journal of laws of 2019 item 1950) (“PC”) which regulates the criminal liability of the individuals;
- Act on Liability of Collective Entities for Acts Prohibited Under Punishment of 28th October, 2002 (Journal of laws of 2020 item 358) (“ALCE”) which regulates the corporate, secondary liability of the legal persons for crimes committed by their representatives;
- Polish Fiscal Penal Code of 10th September, 1999 (Journal of laws of 2020, item 19) (“FPC”) which regulates the criminal liability for the fiscal crimes and penal proceedings on fiscal crimes,
- Polish Penal Proceedings Code of 6th June, 1997 (Journal of laws of 2020, item 30) (“PPC”) which regulates the penal proceedings on crimes .
It is also worth mentioning on Code of Petty Crimes of 20th May, 1971 (Journal of laws of 2019, item 821) which regulates a criminal liability for petty crimes and Code on Proceedings in Petty Crime Cases of 24th August, 2001 (Journal of laws 2020, item 729) which regulates a proceedings in cases regarding petty crimes. The last two acts are not elaborated herein as potential petty crimes usually do not entail significant risks for the company and its management board with regards to the company’s business activity.
Personal and corporate criminal liability in Poland
One may distinguish the two types of the criminal liability under Polish law
- personal criminal liability for the act prohibited under the terms determined in the PC regulations and FPC regulations;
- corporate criminal liability for the act prohibited committed by representatives of legal persons under the terms determined in the ALCE regulations.
Conditions of criminal liability under Polish Law
Basically, under the Polish law the act prohibited can be committed only by natural person. The criminal liability shall be borne by the natural person if:
- its behaviour has met the description of the act prohibited as defined by the law in force at the time of the act commission and,
- the social danger degree of a prohibited act is more than insignificant and,
- the guilt can be attributed to the perpetrator at the time when act is committed and,
- no circumstance excluding the criminal liability occur, for instance: right of self-defense, state of necessity, permitted experiment, excused mistake about circumstance constituting the feature of a prohibited act, insanity.
If all above conditions are met, the act committed is defined as the crime.
Summary of elements constituting a crime:
| Condition 1 | Prohibited act by individual person |
| Condition 2 | Act which is socially detrimental |
| Condition 3 | Guilt can be attributed |
| Condition 4 | No circumstances excluding liability |
Intentional and unintentional crimes under Polish criminal law
The vast majority of prohibited acts can only be committed intentionally. A prohibited act is committed intentionally, if the perpetrator intends to commit it, that is, he or she wants to commit it (so-called direct intention) or by anticipating the possibility of committing it, he or she agrees to it (so-called possible intention).
However, some prohibited acts may also be committed unintentionally. The Criminal Code stipulates that a prohibited act is committed unintentionally, if the perpetrator has no intention of committing it, but commits it as a result of failure to exercise the caution required in the given circumstances, even though the possibility of committing this act was envisaged or foreseen.
At what age does criminal liability begin in Poland?
As a rule, criminal liability may be incurred by a person who commits a prohibited act after the age of 17. In the case of certain prohibited acts of particular gravity, a minor may incur criminal liability after the age of 15. However, this applies to prohibited acts of a criminal nature, not related to running a business.
Territorial application of Polish criminal law
Polish criminal law applies to a perpetrator who commits a prohibited act in the Republic of Poland, or on a Polish vessel or aircraft, unless the Republic of Poland is party to an international agreement stating otherwise. Under the PC regulations the place of commission of the prohibited act is defined very widely.
Namely, prohibited act is deemed to have been committed at the place where the perpetrator acts or fails to perform an action that the perpetrator is obliged to perform, or where the results of the prohibited act take place, or are intended by the perpetrator to take place.
In practical terms, the Polish criminal law shall apply also to the acts performed in different countries, but which results take place or as per intention of the perpetrator should have taken a place in Poland.
Additionally, in certain circumstances, the Polish citizens and foreigners can be held criminally liable for the acts prohibited that are committed abroad. This refers in particular to the fiscal crimes against significant financial interest of the Polish State and European Union.
Forms of committing a crime: Attempt, preparation, execution
Attempt and preparation – Legal consequences
Criminal liability may be held not only by the perpetrator of the prohibited act that has been committed. The Penal Code and the Fiscal Penal Code also provide for liability to a person who, with the intention of committing a prohibited act, directly aims to commit a prohibited act, but does not take place (e.g. the contractor of the perpetrator of the extortion crime resigns at the last minute from signing a contract or sending goods for which the perpetrator from the beginning he was not going to pay).
An punishable attempt also takes place when the perpetrator is not aware that the perpetration is impossible due to the lack of an object suitable for committing a prohibited act on him or due to the use of an agent unsuitable for committing a prohibited act (e.g. the perpetrator performs false, worthless theft) money).
If the perpetrator voluntarily withdraws from the prohibited act or prevents the consequences of the prohibited act after performing the prohibited act, he or she will not be held criminally liable for the attempted act.
In the case of certain, very serious prohibited acts, the Penal Code also provides for responsibility for preparing to commit a crime. This applies to the prohibited acts clearly specified in the Penal Code.
Preparation takes place when the perpetrator, in order to commit a prohibited act, undertakes activities aimed at creating conditions for undertaking activities aimed directly at committing the prohibited act. Examples of preparation for a crime include entering into an agreement with another person, acquiring the resources needed to commit a crime, gathering information or drawing up an action plan.
Typical business-related crimes that make the preparation punishable are:
- preparation for forgery of documents;
- preparation for counterfeiting money or securities;
- prepare to circulate counterfeit money or securities.
The perpetrator of punishable preparation may avoid criminal liability if he or she voluntarily withdrew from it, in particular, destroyed the prepared measures or prevented their use in the future. If the perpetrator entered into an agreement with another person in order to commit a prohibited act, he or she shall not be subject to penalty if he or she has made significant efforts to prevent the act.
Cooperation in committing a crime – forms of participation
Criminal liability under the Penal Code is individual and personal liability. However, this does not exclude the imposition of criminal liability for offenses committed in cooperation with other persons in the form of:
- joint misconduct i.e. performing a prohibited act jointly and in agreement by at least two people;
- management i.e. directing the execution of an act prohibited by another person;
- orders i.e. making use of another person’s dependence on himself by ordering him to perform a prohibited act;
- incitement i.e. inducing another person to commit a crime;
- aid i.e. intended to facilitate the commission of a prohibited act by another person, in particular by providing tools, means of transport, giving advice and information.
A person cooperating in the commission of a prohibited act may avoid liability if it voluntarily prevented the commission of a prohibited act. If, on the other hand, the cooperating person tried voluntarily to prevent committing the prohibited act, but finally failed to prevent it, the court may apply extraordinary leniency against him.
The above-mentioned forms of committing a crime are characteristic of many crimes committed by management staff or members of company bodies, especially when the prohibited act is performed by a person subordinate to a member of the management board or the director at his order or instigation.
Liability of the company representative for a fiscal / tax / white collar crimes
The FPC provides for criminal liability of legal representative of a company for fiscal crime and fiscal petty crime. This refers to person who on the basis of:
- statutory regulations (e.g. the Code of Commercial Companies);
- decisions of the competent authority (e.g. appointment by the company’s supervisory board);
- contracts (e.g. for employment, orders);
- factual activity
deals with economic matters, in particular financial matters of a company. This is called extended liability, e.g. of the president of the company’s management board, as the head of the management board’s work, unless the duties in this regard have been expressly entrusted to another member of the management board.
The so-called extended liability is related to the fact that in description of many fiscal crimes and petty crimes the subject is defined by a collective name (e.g. „taxpayer„, „payer”, „resident”, „importer „). However, criminal liability applies only to natural persons. The extended liability of a representatives allows for the application of criminal liability towards persons dealing with economic matters, in particular financial matters of a legal person (e.g. limited liability company or joint-stock company) or an organizational unit without legal personality (e.g. partnerships).
In such situations, a natural person operating in a given economic entity is liable as the perpetrator, if he or she dealt with economic matters, in particular financial matters of the given entity.
Limitation periods for criminal liability – general rules in Poland
As a rule, the lapse of a certain period of time causes the exclusion of a criminal liability and the perpetrator of a crime shall not be pursued and sentenced for a crime. The Penal Code provides for different limitation periods for crimes prosecuted by public indictment, depending on the seriousness of the act and the amount of the impending penalty. Namely, the criminal liability ceases if the following number of years have passed since a crime was committed:
- 30 years when the act constitutes a felony of murder;
- 20 years when the act constitutes another felony (i.e. the act is punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than three years);
- 15 years when the act constitutes a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment exceeding 5 years;
- 10 years when the act constitutes misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment exceeding 3 years;
- 5 years with regard to other crimes.
Private prosecution – specific limitation periods
On the other hand, the criminal liability for a crime being prosecuted by private prosecution ceases with the lapse of one year from the time when the aggrieved person learned about the perpetrator of the crime, but not later than after 3 years from the time of its commission.
Moreover, in the case of certain crimes to the detriment of minors, the statute of limitations for criminal record may not be imposed before the aggrieved party reaches 30 years of age.
If criminal proceedings are initiated during the limitation period, the limitation period is extended by a further 10 years in the case of crimes prosecuted by public indictment, and in the case of crimes prosecuted by private accusation, the limitation period is extended by 5 years.
Limitation periods for fiscal and tax crimes
Different limitation periods have been provided for fiscal and tax crimes, where the criminal liability shall cease to exist if the following number of years have passed since a fiscal crime was committed:
- 5 years when the act constitutes a fiscal crime punishable by a fine, restriction of liberty or penalty of deprivation of liberty not exceeding 3 years;
- 10 years when the act constitutes a fiscal crime punishable by imprisonment exceeding 3 years.
In addition, the criminal liability for a fiscal crime resulting in the reduction or exposing to the reduction of public law receivables ceases also when the receivables have expired due to statutory limitation.
The limitation period for a fiscal crime public law receivables begins at the end of the year in which the payment deadline for this receivable expired.
If the perpetrator of a fiscal crime has reduced or has exposed to reduce its customs duty, the limitation period shall start on the day on which the customs debt was incurred. If it is not possible to determine the date on which the customs debt arises, the limitation period for a fiscal crime shall start from the earliest date on which the existence of the customs debt was established.
Voluntary Disclosure of Fiscal Crimes – Grounds for Exemption
The perpetrator of a fiscal crime or a fiscal petty crime may avoid criminal liability if, after committing a prohibited act, he or she voluntary discloses the authority appointed for prosecution of the committed crime or petty crime, the relevant circumstances of the act, in particular the persons cooperating in its commission.
If the committed act resulted in non-payment of the required public-law receivables, the perpetrator shall also pay the unpaid receivables within the time limit set by the authorized body.
Limitations of voluntary disclosure – when it does not apply?
The perpetrator will not avoid criminal liability as a result of voluntary disclosure of the fiscal crime or fiscal petty crime, if the voluntary disclosure has been made:
- at the time when the law enforcement authority already had clearly documented information about a fiscal crime or a fiscal petty crime;
- after the commencement of an official activity by a law enforcement authority, in particular a search, verification activity or control aimed at revealing a fiscal crime or a fiscal petty crime, unless this activity did not provide grounds for initiating proceedings for this prohibited act.
Moreover, voluntary disclosure of a committed fiscal crime or fiscal petty crime shall not waive the criminal liability of the perpetrator who:
- managed the execution of the disclosed offense;
- ordered another person to perform the disclosed prohibited act, by taking advantage of the dependence of another person on himself;
- organized a group or association with the aim of committing fiscal crime or directed such a group or association, unless the voluntary disclosure was made with all members of the group or association;
- induced another person to commit a fiscal crime or a fiscal petty crime in order to bring proceedings against that person for that crime.
Penalties and other repressive measures for a crime
The Penal Code provides for the following penalties:
| Fine | the fine is imposed on a daily basis, specifying the number of rates and the amount of one rate; unless the act provides otherwise, the lowest number of rates is 10, and the highest is 540. In the case of some crimes, the act provides for a higher, maximum number of fines, e.g. in the case of money laundering, the maximum number of rates is 3000. The daily rate cannot be lower than PLN 10 nor exceed PLN 2,000. The fine may be imposed as an independent penalty or in addition to the penalty of imprisonment, if the perpetrator has committed the act in order to gain a financial benefit or when a financial benefit was gained. Moreover, a fine may be imposed in the event of conditional suspension of the execution of a custodial sentence |
| Restriction of liberty | as a rule, the penalty of restriction of liberty lasts for the shortest period of one month, and the longest for two years; it is imposed in months and years. The penalty of restriction of liberty consists in the obligation to perform unpaid, controlled work for social purposes or to deduct from 10% to 25% of remuneration for work on a monthly basis for a social purpose indicated by the court. While serving a restriction of liberty, the convicted person may not change the place of permanent residence without the court’s consent and is obliged to provide explanations regarding the course of serving the sentence. Moreover, the court may impose other, additional obligations on the convict, specified in the Criminal Code |
| Deprivation of liberty | imprisonment lasts for the shortest month, the longest for 15 years; it is imposed in months and years. The court may conditionally suspend the execution of the penalty of deprivation of liberty imposed for a period not exceeding one year, if the perpetrator, at the time of committing the crime, was not sentenced to imprisonment and it is sufficient to achieve the goals of the punishment, in particular to prevent the return to the offense. As a rule, the suspension of the execution of the sentence takes place for a probationary period, which is from one to three years and runs from the judgment becoming final. Adjudicating of the penalty of imprisonment with a conditional suspension of its execution is quite common in cases of minor crimes, in particular in the case of minor economic crimes, which are associated with the obligation to redress the damage committed by the crime. In such situations, the convicted person is obliged to redress the damage during the trial period. Otherwise, the court may order the execution of the imprisonment penalty |
| 25 years imprisonment | it can be adjudicated for the most serious crimes. In the case of economic crimes, it may be imposed as the maximum penalty for a crime of forgery of invoices with a total value of more than PLN 10,000,000 and for a crime of forgery of money and means of payment |
| Life imprisonment | it can be adjudicated in the case of the most serious crimes of a criminal nature, against peace and humanity, and against the Republic of Poland. It is not adjudicated in cases of an economic nature |
The Penal Code also provides for additional measures of repression in the form of the so-called criminal measures, forfeiture and compensation measures. They are imposed in addition to penalties for the committed crime. These measures include:
- deprivation of public rights;
- ban on holding a specific position, performing a specific profession or conducting a specific business activity;
- prohibition of activities related to the upbringing, treatment, education or care of minors;
- ban on staying in certain environments or places, contacting certain people, approaching certain people or leaving a certain place of stay without the consent of the court;
- ban on entry to a mass event;
- ban on access to gaming centers and participation in gambling;
- an order to temporarily leave the premises shared with the aggrieved party;
- driving ban;
- monetary performance for Victim Support Fund and Post Penitentiary Aid;
- making the judgment public;
- forfeiture of items derived from crime or their equivalent;
- forfeiture of items used or intended to commit a crime or their equivalent;
- forfeiture of the perpetrator’s business or another natural person;
- forfeiture of the proceeds of the crime;
- redress for the damage caused by the crime;
- pecuniary compensation for harm;
- exemplary damages.
In practice, the following measures can be adjudicated in case of conviction for an economic crime:
| ban on holding a specific position, practicing a specific profession or conducting a specific business activity | The ban may be imposed for a period from 1 to 15 years. It is adjudicated in a situation where the perpetrator has abused, in committing the offense, his position or profession, or has proved that continuing to hold a position, pursue a profession or conduct business activity threatens significant goods protected by law |
| forfeiture of the proceeds of the crime | As a result of forfeiture, the perpetrator is deprived of the ownership of the pecuniary benefits obtained as a result of the crime (e.g. money, real estate, securities). The forfeiture is not adjudicated if the benefit or its equivalent is returned to the aggrieved party or to another entity. In the case of more serious crimes, it was presumed that the financial benefit obtained from committing the crime is the property that the perpetrator took possession of or to which he obtained any title in the period of 5 years before the crime was committed, until the sentence was issued. In certain situations, it is also possible to order forfeiture in relation to the property of a third party (e.g. a company) who purchased from a perpetrator of crime a property constituting a benefit from a crime. In such a situation, the Penal Code provides for a certain legal fiction that things that are in autonomous possession by a third party and its property rights belong to the perpetrator and constitute a property benefit derived from the crime subject to forfeiture (the so-called extended confiscation). A third party may, however, defend itself against extended confiscation, if it proves that, on the basis of the circumstances surrounding the purchase of property from the perpetrator, it could not be assumed that the property came from a prohibited act, even indirectly |
| redress for the damage caused by the crime | In the event of a conviction, the court may decide, and at the request of the injured party or another entitled person, it must obligatorily rule on the obligation to redress the damage caused by the crime. In this regard, the court applies the provisions of civil law, in particular the Civil Code. This means, inter alia, that the compensation for the damage should include both actual damage (damnum emergens) and lost profits (lucrum cessans). However, the criminal court is not obliged to adjudicate on the obligation to compensate for the damage in full, in particular if the evidence presented does not allow the amount of the damage to be estimated. In such a situation, the court may decide on the undisputed part of the compensation, and in the remaining scope, the crime victim may claim supplementary compensation through civil proceedings |
Penalties and other repressive measures for a fiscal crime in Poland
| Fine | Fine in daily amounts; the lowest number of stakes is 10, the highest is 720; the rates of fines for fiscal crimes tend to be higher than for criminal or economic crimes under PC regulations. As a rule, the daily rate of fine for a fiscal crime may not be less than one-thirtieth of the minimum wage and may not exceed four hundred times it |
| Penalty of restriction of liberty | Penalty of restriction of liberty imposed on very similar principles as in the case of other crimes |
| Penalty of deprivation of liberty | Penalty of deprivation of liberty imposed in days, months and years for a period from 5 days to 5 years |
| Forfeiture of items | Including: items derived directly from a fiscal crime, tools or other items constituting movable property which were used or intended to commit a fiscal crime, packages and items connected with the subject of a fiscal crime in such a way that they cannot be separated without damaging any of these items as well as items which manufacture, possession, trade, storage, transport, transfer or transmission is prohibited |
| Recovery of the monetary value of forfeiture of items | Adjudicated if the subject of forfeiture has been destroyed, lost, hidden or cannot be taken into possession for other factual or legal reasons |
| Forfeiture of financial benefits | If the perpetrator obtained a financial benefit from committing a fiscal offense, the court shall adjudicate the forfeiture of this benefit or the recovery of its monetary equivalent from the perpetrator’s property. In the case of more serious fiscal crimes, from which the perpetrator has obtained or could have obtained a material benefit of great value, even indirectly, or crimes committed in an organized group or association aimed at committing a fiscal crime, it is presumed that the benefit obtained from the crime is the property that the perpetrator took possession of, or to which it obtained any title in the period of 5 years before committing a fiscal crime until the judgment is issued. However, this presumption may be rebutted by proving that such property does not constitute a financial benefit from the crime.Moreover, if the property constituting an benefit obtained from a fiscal crime has been transferred to another person (e.g. a company), it is considered that the asset in autonomous possession of that person or the property rights held by that person belong to the perpetrator of the fiscal crime (extended confiscation). The acquirer of such property may, however, effectively defend itself against the forfeiture judgment, if it proves that it acted in good faith, i.e. it proves that on the basis of the circumstances accompanying the purchase, it could not be assumed that the property, even indirectly, came from a prohibited act. |
| Recovering the monetary equivalent of forfeiture of a financial benefit | In case the imposition of forfeiture of financial benefits is not possible e.g. due to previous disposal of benefit by the perpetrator, the court shall decide on recovery from perpetrator of monetary equivalent of forfeiture of a financial benefit |
| Ban on carrying out specific business, holding specific profession or position | The ban may be imposed for a period from 1 to 5 years, if perpetrator has abused, when committing the fiscal crime, his position or profession, or has proved that continuing to hold a position, pursue a profession or conduct business activity threatens significant goods protected by law |
Prohibition on serving in companies bodies in Poland
In addition, it should be noted that pursuant to regulations of CCPC, persons sentenced under a final judgment for certain economic crimes shall not serve as:
- a member of the management board, supervisory board, audit commission, liquidator or proxy of the limited liability company or joint stock company;
- a member of the management board of a partner company;
- a member of the supervisory board of a limited joint-stock partnership.
The prohibition ceases after five years from the date when the conviction becoming final, unless the conviction has been expunged earlier.
FAQ – Criminal law in Poland and Polish Penal Code
How does federal criminal law compare to Poland’s penal law?
Federal criminal law in the United States governs offenses at the federal level, enforced by agencies under the federal government, while in Poland, criminal and civil law are codified in the Polish Penal Code and other legislative acts. Although criminal law varies between jurisdictions, Polish penal law is applied uniformly across the country, covering criminal behavior, property crimes, and federal crimes that affect state security.
What are the key elements of a criminal trial in Poland?
A criminal trial in Poland follows the principles of criminal procedure outlined in the Penal Code and the Polish Penal Proceedings Code. The process includes investigation, indictment, trial, and sentencing. The criminal justice system determines whether punitive or rehabilitative treatment should be applied based on the severity of the criminal conduct and the defendant’s circumstances.
How are criminal penalties enforced in Poland?
Criminal penalties in Poland are imposed based on the nature of the crime. These may include imprisonment, fines, or other punitive measures. Unlike in the U.S., where the Internal Revenue Service investigates federal tax-related offenses, Poland’s fiscal crimes are regulated under the Polish Fiscal Penal Code, addressing financial fraud and tax evasion as criminal conduct.
