Corruption in Poland
Corruption in Poland is below the world average but not insignificant. Within Poland, surveys of Polish citizens reveal that it is perceived to be a major problem.
Historical
In the early 1920s, during the first years of the Second Polish Republic, Polish institutions were plagued by endemic corruption,[1] and several of the governments of the day were accused of widespread corruption, very likely with a sound cause.[2] Between 1923 and 1926, Józef Piłsudski came to conclude that the system which he dubbed "Sejmocracy" fostered general corruption, ultimately leading him to launch the May Coup and seize power.[3] His byword Sanation referred to the cleansing he promised to introduce, in contrast to his predecessors' shady practices.[4]
However, once in power, his allies uncovered very few cases of corruption in past governments; persistent references to mass corruption amounted to a type of "primitive propaganda", in the words of historian
In the communist
Recent era
Global Integrity 2010 report gave Poland the score of 80 out of 100 assessing the legal framework as 86 (strong) and actual implementation as 71 (moderate).[11] The report scored Poland particularly well (score of 90) in categories for "Non-Governmental Organizations, Public Information and Media" and "Elections", and particularly low in the category for "Public Administration and Professionalism" (score of 59).[11]
A 2011 report by the Institute of Public Affairs also criticized the standards of public life in Poland, and the prevalence of nepotism and cronyism.[12]
A 2012 report jointly prepared by from the Institute of Public Affairs (ISP) and
The 2012 report from the ISP and TI, reviewing individual Polish anti-corruption institution, praised the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), followed by the Polish Ombudsman (RPO).[13] It criticized the civil society, the private sector, and the executive and public administration of insufficient efforts in fighting corruption.[13] Poland's watchdog organisations are considered weak in combating corruption, and corruption allegations often appear in government contracting and permit issuance.[12][15]
The 2012 report from the ISP and TI praised the overall direction of the anti-corruption efforts in Poland, noting that they are "bringing noticeable results", but noted that those efforts, particularly from the public authorities, are "rather chaotic, sometimes contradictory or even controversial". It concluded that "corruption in Poland still entails considerable risks" and "the level of anti-corruption protection is unsatisfactory".[13] A 2013 OECD report analyzing the implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention concluded that "the current Polish framework for fighting foreign bribery is still inadequate".[16]
A 2013 survey in Poland found that 83% of surveyed Polish citizens think that corruption is a major problem for their country, particularly prevalent among politicians (62 percent) and in the health-care sector (53 percent). A growing number of citizens (57%) is concerned that there is no political will to fight corruption.[17]
On TI's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, Poland scored 55 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Poland ranked 45th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. [18] For comparison, the best score was 90 (ranked 1) and the worst score was 12 (ranked 180).[19]
See also
- Central Anticorruption Bureau – Polish anti-corruption agency
- Corruption Perceptions Index – Country ranking by public sector corruption
- Crime in Poland
- Group of States Against Corruption– the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption monitoring body
- International Anti-Corruption Academy – Intergovernmental organization
- International Anti-Corruption Day – Annual event of the UN on 9 December
- ISO 37001 Anti-bribery management systems – Standard
- List of anti-corruption agencies
- OECD Anti-Bribery Convention – Anti-corruption agreement among high-economic power countries
- Police corruption in Poland– Abuse of power by civil law enforcement
- Transparency International – International non-governmental organization
- United Nations Convention against Corruption– Anti-corruption treaty
References
- ISBN 978-0-674068-16-2.
- ISBN 978-0-313305-71-9.
- ISBN 978-0-821443-09-5.
- ISBN 978-0-203449-36-3.
- ISBN 978-0-821416-95-2.
- ISBN 978-1-566566-55-1.
- ISBN 978-90-04-25276-9.
- ISBN 978-1-4128-3096-6.
- S2CID 146882607.
- ISBN 978-0-8047-6448-3.
- ^ a b "Global Integrity Report 2010- Poland". Global Integrity. Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ a b "Press releases - Polish institutions prone to corruption". Transparency.org. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Susanne Kuehn (5 March 2012). "National integrity system assessments - Poland 2012". Transparency.org. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ "Poland:- Poland - OECD Anti-Bribery Convention - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development". Oecd.org. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ "Snapshot of the Poland Country Profile". Business Anti-Corruption Portal. GAN Integrity Solutions. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ "Bribery in international business - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development". Oecd.org. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ "Poles see significant corruption in Poland - Warsaw Business Journal - Online Portal". wbj.pl. 25 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ "The ABCs of the CPI: How the Corruption Perceptions Index is calculated". Transparency.org. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2022: Poland". Transparency.org. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
External links
- Poland Corruption Profile
- Grzegorz Wolszczak, [2] (Anti-)Corruption in Poland since Early 2000 to 2010
- Patrycja Szarek-Mason (11 March 2010). The European Union's Fight Against Corruption: The Evolving Policy Towards Member States and Candidate Countries. Cambridge University Press. pp. 208–. ISBN 978-0-521-11357-1. (Subchapter on Poland)