Polish criminal law / Criminal defence

Most people do not want to have very close contact with criminal law unless they are professionally linked to this area of law being a lawyer, attorney or judge. However, it is sometimes not so difficult to end up in a situation where one has to deal with criminal allegations.

Your risks as Managing Director

Overview of main offenses

If you are employed in a ltd. of Polish law in function of CEO or member of the executive board of a joint-stock company, you’ll find the following statements interesting for sure. The Polish economic criminal law contains a number of provisions which should be followed to avoid conflicts with the polish criminal law. This includes in addition to the (classical) offenses of corruption, embezzlement or fraud, in particular provisions in the field of criminal acts against the commercial trade (prevention or reduction of creditor satisfaction – art. 300 of the Polish Penal Code, fraudulent trading (bankruptcy) – Art. 301 of the Polish Penal Code and fraudulent preference of creditors – art. 302 of the Polish Penal Code), or the insolvency law and here, in particular, the criminal act of delaying insolvency proceedings – art. 586 of The Commercial Companies Code.

Furthermore, other law acts also include criminal law provisions, with which you as a manager of a Polish ltd. or as a board member of a Polish company should be familiar with. This includes in particular the provisions of the tax criminal code and the Accounting Law (e.g. as the absence of notification of the end-of-year reports to the register court – art. 79 of the Accounting Law) as well as the criminal provisions of the Polish Competition Law and the corresponding provisions in the laws for the protection of intellectual property.

Investigation in the Polish criminal procedure

Preliminary proceedings will be conducted to determine whether a criminal offense of the Polish Penal Law has been realized. If this is the case, the Office of the public prosecutor and the police acting on his behalf have to secure the existing evidence in the respective matter for the subsequent court proceedings. One of the applied measures is to carry out a search of the premises, where the presence of objects is suspected that could serve as factual evidence in the current investigation.

Learn more about the search of premises

Another possibility for the collection of evidence is the interrogation of the accused, as well as a witness. While the accused is not obliged to make any statements, the witness has generally the right to refuse to provide information only in cases as envisaged in the Polish Criminal Procedure Code.

Learn more about interrogation in preliminary proceedings

Your risks as a private person

Also a private person can encounter the Polish Criminal Law more easily than expected. A traffic accident with personal injury in Poland is enough for the Polish State Prosecutor to step in. The presented above for the management of Polish subsidiaries applies to private persons in a corresponding manner.

In criminal matters, the establishment of a quick contact with a lawyer (defence lawyer), who specializes in the Polish Criminal Law and Criminal Proceedings is extremely important. Remember in this context that in case of emergency, it is your freedom and your assets that are at stake and of course also the interests and needs of your relatives.

Our consultancy services in the field of the Polish Criminal Law and Criminal Proceedings Code

Our advocates will very gladly assist you with the following consulting services:

  • General advice in Polish Criminal Law and Administrative Offence Law,
  • Consulting within the field of Polish Commercial Criminal Law as well as the creation of compliance systems in Polish subsidiaries,
  • Representation and defence of private individuals in preliminary proceedings before the Polish prosecution authorities, as well as in the main proceedings before the Court,
  • Representation and defence of CEO’s and members of the Management Board in preliminary proceedings before the Polish prosecution authorities, as well as in the main proceedings before the Court,
  • Advice and representation of your interests during inspections and in obligations made by the National Labor Inspection, as well as in subsequent court proceedings,
  • Examination of criminal matters and representation in connection with the filing of criminal complaints before Polish prosecution authorities,
  • Advice and representation of your interests in the context of a European arrest warrant,
  • Establishment of legal opinions to selected problems in Polish Criminal Law,
  • Advice and support of the accused and his family during the custody in Poland (in particular for persons having Polish citizenship).

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