Artur Pietryka
Use of criminal law to combat drug distribution
On 6 June 2019, another amendment to the Pharmaceutical Law came into force. Its aim is to reduce the occurrence of non-availability of medicines. According to the authors of the changes, only more severe penalties and broader penalisation can limit the undesirable occurrence of the reverse distribution chain. However, the first comments on these changes show that the threat of penalties alone may not be enough to achieve this goal. It has been known for some time now that the inevitability of punishment is an indicator of the effectiveness of criminal policy.
Can entrapment help to prosecute companies?
A new Corporate Liability Act which is currently before the Polish Sejm will put criminal law institutions in a new perspective. Certain instruments that were seen as appropriate only with respect to individuals will have to be redirected to be deployed in the case of corporate entities. Once the new laws take effect, corporate entities will be the focus of attention of law enforcement agencies. The new approach will affect among other things police entrapment operations (controlled handing over of a bribe), at the moment usually used with regard to businesspeople.
Zatrzymanie osoby – poradnik o prawach i obowiązkach
W ostatnim czasie media wielokrotnie informowały o zatrzymaniach prezesów, członków zarządów, dyrektorów spółek. W przestrzeni publicznej pojawiał się wówczas szereg pytań o zasadność takich czynności, zwłaszcza wtedy, gdy sądy odmawiały uwzględniania prokuratorskich wniosków o zastosowanie tymczasowego aresztowania.
Can an aggrieved person harmed by a corporate entity file a complaint concerning tardiness?
Tardiness in investigations and court cases is a structural problem in Poland. This was confirmed among other things in a pilot judgment issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) of 7 July 2015 in Rutkowski and Others v. Poland. This is also confirmed by Ministry of Justice statistics. In 2018, the number of investigations of a duration of between two and five years was up 583 on 2017. Tardiness can occur in particular in complex criminal cases with a commercial element, and for this reason the problem of tardiness will probably affect corporate liability cases conducted once a law now before parliament takes effect. Based on the current wording, the question arises of who will be able to file a complaint concerning tardiness in cases of this kind, and when.
