Criminal procedure in Poland is divided into two phases: pre-trial proceedings (the investigation) and the court trial (with two instances). The first phase, conducted or supervised by a public prosecutor, aims to collect the necessary evidence to be presented to the court. During the trial, the evidence is presented and then evaluated by the court.

Pre-trial proceedings – the investigation

The investigation can be initiated by the police or a public prosecutor ex officio, based on any information gained by the law enforcement agencies, or upon request. Any person who has knowledge of a criminal act has a social obligation to notify this fact to the police or a prosecutor. This obligation, however, is not generally sanctioned – so companies do not have to report every criminal offence committed during their hours of business or by their staff.

A person with an interest in the case can also report an offence and ask for an investigation to be initiated. Such a person can also appeal against a decision refusing to initiate an investigation or to discontinue the investigation.  

There are two parties to the investigation – the injured person or entity and the suspect, once charges are brought against a specific person. The parties to the investigation have the right to file evidentiary motions, participate in interviews and other activities, analyse case files etc. However, these rights depend on the prosecutor’s decision, as the prosecutor remains in full charge of the investigation.

The suspect has the right to defend themselves and does not have to provide any explanations or evidence.

The prosecutor can issue numerous decisions during the investigation, including:

  • applying preventive measures, such as a bail or a ban on leaving Poland,
  • asking the court to temporarily arrest (detain) the suspect,
  • secure the suspect’s property to ensure the execution of the potential sentence and any financial sanctions.

Depending on the complexity of the given case, the investigation can take from several months to several years to be concluded. In most white-collar cases, investigations can easily take two to three years.

After the investigation is concluded, the police or a public prosecutor can bring the case before the court. They can also ask the court for a plea bargain (if one can be agreed between the parties and the prosecutor), or can conditionally discontinue the case.

Court trial

During a trial, the public prosecutor and the accused are the parties to the proceedings. The aggrieved person or entity is not a party to the jurisdictional phase of the case, unless they declare that they want to be a party to the trial as a subsidiary prosecutor.

During a trial, most of the evidence already collected by the Police or a public prosecutor during the investigation is heard by the court. Witnesses are interviewed again, documents are analysed, specialists can be asked to provide opinions etc. The parties to the proceedings can also file new evidentiary motions at any stage of the trial – there are no strict limitations as to the moment when evidence can and should be presented.

The case can be considered over the course of multiple hearings. In more complex cases with many accused, two to four hearings may be scheduled each month. However, it might be the case that hearings are scheduled with longer breaks. It can often take at least a year to conclude a trial before the first instance court.

The trial ends with a sentence being passed and all the parties have the right to appeal if they are not satisfied with the verdict. Courts of appeals do not usually hear further evidence and they mostly analyse the case files, the justification of the court of first instance’s judgement and the appeals and responses. This means that it usually takes only one hearing to consider appeals and issue a final sentence.

Under certain specific conditions, parties can submit an extraordinary appeal (cassation) to the Supreme Court. These include appeals by:

  • the prosecutor (public and subsidiary), if the accused was acquitted or the case was conditionally discontinued (probation),
  • the accused: if they were sentenced to imprisonment without probation.

If parties cannot file a cassation, they can ask the Ombudsman Prosecutor General (the Minister of Justice) to do so on their behalf.