The ultimate Chamber of Control assessed negatively the functioning of the Justice Fund from 2021 to 2020. The published study shows that the funds to assist victims of crime have been spent to a large degree not purposefully and economically. The full amount of irregularities found amounted to nearly PLN 270 million.
The audit covered the period from 1 January 2021 to 9 May 2025 and afraid the management of the fund by the Minister of Justice, who serves as his authorising officer. NIK has negatively assessed both the organisation of the fund's operation and the way public funds were spent.
The Justice Fund was created in 2012 as a state-owned peculiar intent fund. Its main task was to finance legal, intellectual and material assistance for victims of crimes and to support the reaction of people leaving criminal establishments.
According to NIK, in practice, the fund has ceased to service as a specialised aid instrument. The expenditure was implemented in breach of the basic principles of public finances, specified as transparency, intent and economy.
The changes introduced in 2017, which extended the fund's objectives to tackle crime in a broad sense, were of key importance, according to the House. This allowed for financing very diverse projects, frequently only formally linked to statutory tasks.
NIK indicates that the grant award procedure has besides been introduced outside the competitions, which allowed the transfer of money to selected entities according to discretional decisions. As a result, the fund, in the opinion of the auditors, lost its character as a special-purpose fund.
The Chamber emphasises that erstwhile checks have already shown akin irregularities, but that the management of the Fund has not implemented or implemented control recommendations in a way that deviates from their content. The deficiency of consequence to erstwhile findings was 1 of the reasons for the initiation of another control in 2024.
The audit was carried out in parallel with law enforcement activities concerning irregularities in the spending of funds. According to the NIK, there have been difficulties in the proceedings, inter alia, in securing papers by the prosecution and in refusing to supply explanations by those liable for financial decisions.
The ultimate Audit Board considered that urgent systemic changes were needed to prevent the unprofitable usage of public funds and reconstruct the fund to its core function, namely real assistance to victims of crime.
The study includes legislative and organisational recommendations addressed to the fund's trustee and public administration.
The findings of the NIK concern the period during which the Ministry of Justice was managed by politicians. Rights and Justiceand his agent was the Minister Zbigniew Ziobro.
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19.03.2026
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