ABSTRACT
In the early 2000s, Poland had only a system of administrative liability for legal persons in place. A number of features of that system caused concern for European officials, including the requirement, in most cases, of a prior conviction of the natural person, the exclusion of parallel criminal and administrative proceedings,1 and sanctions that were based on the revenue of the legal person in the previous year. The issues were analysed by the Institute of Justice (a scientific branch of the Ministry of Justice) in 2001 with a view to establishing criminal liability in the near future. Subsequently, the Law of 28 October 2002 on Liability of Collective Entities for Acts Prohibited under Penalty (hereafter ‘the Law’) was enacted. As the title suggests, the Law is applicable to collective entities, which includes legal persons. This law was introduced in the context of Poland’s efforts to meet the criteria for EU membership, as well as other international obligations such as the OECD Convention.
