Łukasz Lasek | In Principle

Whistleblowing became a buzzword in Poland in 2024 following the delayed implementation of the EU’s Whistleblower Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law) (WBD). By September 2024, most private companies in Poland were required to comply with national legislation mandating internal policies for reporting and follow-up actions. At the time, many organisations scrambled to meet these statutory requirements—some were fine-tuning existing speak-up channels to align with the new law, while others were building a framework from scratch. The business press was flooded with discussions on compliance, and webinars and seminars on the topic were everywhere. However, much of the focus was on setting up reporting channels and policies, often overlooking the broader significance and long-term impact of these changes.

Court of Justice clarifies the notion of “legal advisory services” under EU sanctions law and throws into doubt the Commission’s interpretation.

On 2 September 2022, the Polish Ministry of Justice published a draft of far-reaching changes to the liability of collective entities, which would eliminate the requirement to obtain a predicate ruling for all criminal and fiscal offences for which collective entities could be held criminally liable. We discuss these changes in an updated version of our guide to corporate criminal liability in Poland.

It’s hard to explain to someone who has never been accused of a crime that they cannot use their own money, and this situation could last for months. Nonetheless, an institution exerting this effect functions under Polish law and can impact both individuals and companies.

More and more requests are filed with Polish prosecutors and courts by other countries seeking extradition of wanted persons found in Poland. These persons often are not even aware that they are sought by law enforcement authorities in another country to face criminal charges there or to enforce existing criminal sanctions.

The latest episode of News from Poland is devoted to implementation by Polish companies of sanctions imposed on Russia for its attack on Ukraine. This topic is discussed by Anna Olejniczak-Michalska from the firm’s Private Client practice and Łukasz Lasek from the firm’s Dispute Resolution & Arbitration practice.

Some 70–80 extradition requests are filed every year with the Polish authorities, to turn over persons to stand trial before a foreign court or serve a punishment abroad.

In this episode, Łukasz Lasek explains legal aspects of fighting cybercrime in the form of ransomware and data hacks. What is a ransomware attack? How can businesses protect against it? How do we help businesses after they fall victim to ransomware extortion?

In this episode, Łukasz Lasek explains legal aspects of fighting a type of cybercrime fraud called business email compromise, or BEC. How do the fraudsters work? Why is the number of BEC attacks on smaller businesses increasing? What to do if your email has been compromised? What are the prospects of catching the fraudsters, and how to reduce the number of BEC frauds?

Every day, news outlets around the world report on corporate scandals and investigations, money laundering through shell companies in tax havens, arrests of executives, and multi-million-dollar settlements with prosecutors by big market players. Is this symptomatic of setbacks in the fight with corporate criminality, or is enforcement improving and uncovering more crime?

The EU provides tools for efficient police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. But those instruments may no longer be available to the authorities if there is a hard Brexit.

An interview with Łukasz Lasek and Piotr Golędzinowski from the Dispute Resolution & Arbitration practice on the possibilities of out-of-court dispute resolution, planning in the event of a dispute, and costly traps to avoid.