The Ministry of Justice is attempting to articulate its activities over the past year. On December 3, 2024, Deputy Minister Rudzińska-Bluszcz, currently overseeing the Justice Fund, addressed journalists on this topic, among others. This issue is worth the reader’s attention—it is truly hair-raising.

The operations of the Justice Fund have come to light thanks, in part, to the case of the Profeto Foundation, the arrest of Father O., and former officials of the Ministry of Justice.

Journalists Maria Pankowska (OKO.press) and Sebastian Klauziński (TVN24) covered this story extensively, earning them a Grand Press nomination for their investigative work.

Lack of Rules

From the perspective of a public institution tasked with managing public funds, the situation appears almost unbelievable. The Justice Fund is designed to support crime victims and aid post-penitentiary reintegration (helping individuals establish themselves after serving sentences to prevent recidivism and reliance on the prison system).

Article 43 of the Executive Penal Code

– § 7. The Fund’s revenue comes from:
1. Financial penalties and compensatory payments ordered by courts;
2. Deductions of 7% from wages earned by inmates employed under the terms specified in Article 121 § 2;
3. Disciplinary penalties referred to in Article 143 § 1, point 7;
4. Inheritances, bequests, and donations;
5. Grants, fundraising, and other sources.

When the Ministry of Justice came under the control of Ziobro’s team in 2015 (pictured above with Marcin Romanowski, responsible for the Fund), extraordinary things began happening. To current ministry officials, accustomed to transparency and diligence in managing public funds, the practices of their predecessors are incomprehensible:

– Funds were distributed without clear rules or criteria.

As a result, all documentation now requires meticulous review. The audit consumes a “terrifying number of hours,” according to Rudzińska. This work extends beyond the ministry itself:

– An internal audit of the Fund began in January 2024.
– Prosecutors took up the irregularities in February.
– Tax authorities followed in March.
– The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBŚ) joined in May.

Currently, eight Ministry of Justice employees are solely dedicated to gathering documents in response to inquiries from various oversight bodies. They have compiled 300,000 (!) pages of documentation, not counting hundreds of flash drives—an unusual quantity even in government administration, requiring a special procurement process.

Extended NIK Audit

The Supreme Audit Office (NIK) is conducting yet another audit, extended until February 2025.

This is not the first such investigation. Three years ago, the NIK highlighted irregularities within the Fund, finding that only 40% of its resources were allocated to supporting crime victims, with the remainder unaccounted for. The first NIK report was ignored by the then-government.

The current administration eagerly anticipates NIK’s recommendations. These are certain to come: “This year alone, the NIK asked us 75 comprehensive questions, each requiring detailed multi-page responses. At times, this was extremely challenging—no one in today’s ministry knows, for example, on what basis decisions were made in 2017,” says Piotr Krasiński, Director of the Department of Funds and Free Legal Assistance.

Changes to the Fund

Creating new rules for evaluating grant applications was labor-intensive because there was no pre-existing framework to revise—there was nothing at all. New evaluation criteria are now in place. External experts, rather than ministry staff, will assess applications. Competitions based on these new rules will be resolved in December.

The regulations governing the Fund have also been amended.

The evaluation of funding proposals now emphasizes applicants’ experience. The option to use Fund money for real estate purchases has been eliminated; funds must instead be directed toward legal aid, psychological support, and material assistance for victims.

The infamous Paragraph 11, which allowed the Minister to allocate funds at their discretion, bypassing competition outcomes, has been removed. However, this clause does not absolve Ziobro’s administration, as it provided no real protection for their practices. The core issue was not just discretionary decision-making but the lack of a public call for proposals: only allies and party associates were invited to submit applications.

Profeto: 100 Million PLN, Crime Victims: 75 Million PLN

The Justice Fund continues to operate and fulfill its commitments, emphasized Rudzińska-Bluszcz. Some institutions, like Caritas in Siedlce, operate without controversy. There, victims of crimes can access transitional housing, legal services, and psychological assistance.

The Fund allocated 75 million PLN annually to 238 support centers, assisting 30,000–40,000 crime victims.

However, 21 dubious contracts have been suspended (e.g., the Profeto Foundation, linked to Father O., was set to receive 100 million PLN, of which 66 million was already disbursed). The new administration will not release further funds for these contracts and will seek reimbursement for funds already distributed through administrative procedures, allowing recipients to present their arguments. This painstaking process is expected to conclude by the end of December.

New competitions under the updated funding rules will be announced in 2025, focusing on creating a network of support for crime victims and post-penitentiary assistance. Currently, existing support centers lack coordination, mutual contacts, and knowledge-sharing, reducing their effectiveness.

There will also be smaller competitions targeting victims of specific crimes, Rudzińska-Bluszcz announced.

Funding will come not only from domestic sources. Negotiations are underway to tap into the Norwegian Funds, which excluded Poland from its “Justice” program under PiS due to judicial “deformation.” “This is now changing,” says the Deputy Minister.

“I may be overpromising, but that’s why you’re here—to hold me accountable,” she concluded.

The above article by Agnieszka Jędrzejczyk was published in *OKO.press* on December 3, 2024.