crimes committed by totalitarian regimes - Ministrstvo za pravosodje

Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes
functions, as well as to disclose, in general, the content of documents produced by the former security
services. Such activities are termed as vetting (lustration). The referent legal regulations are included in
two fundamental acts:
– The Act of 18 December 1998 on The Institute of National Remembrance – the Commission for the
of Crimes against the Polish Nation (Dz. U. /The Gazette/ of 2007, No. 63, Item 424);
– The Act of 18 October 2006 on disclosure of information about documents of the security services of
the years 1944–90, as well as the content of such documents (Dz. U. /The Gazette/ of 2007, No. 63,
Item 425).
The Code of Criminal Procedure is used, as an auxiliary tool, too, as well as some statutory
regulations concerning administrative procedures and administrative court proceedings.
Disclosure of the content of documents of the former security services is effected on two planes:
1. On the general, administrative and archival plane, wherein the content of the archives of the former
security services is disclosed;
2. On the individual, administrative and court plane, wherein the past is disclosed of people, who
exercise public functions or apply to exercise such functions.
All activities within the scope, as defined herein, are executed by President of The Institute of National
Remembrance, alongside with the Vetting Office (Biuro Lustracyjne) and the Branch Vetting Offices,
as subordinated to the central office, which have been included within the structure of The Institute of
National Remembrance. Activities pertaining to individual court vetting proceedings are performed by a
separate prosecution department which consists of prosecutors employed at the Vetting Offices.
Ad 1. In this scope, The Institute of National Remembrance (the Vetting Office) publishes lists of
persons within the three so-called Thematic Directories:
– List of persons who were being worked out, including people about whom the former security
authorities gathered information in a secret way and applying operational means;
– List of persons who held managerial positions in the party and state authorities in the former
totalitarian state;
– List of officers of the former security services who worked for or exercised a function within these
authorities.
Moreover, President of The Institute of National Remembrance publishes in the Public Information
Bulletin (Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej, BIP) information concerning documents of the former
security services and the contents thereof with respect to the categories of public figures, as specified
in the Act. One should also mention that in case of public figures included in the publications of Public
Information Bulletin of the Institute, each citizen has the right to familiarise him-/herself with the
archives. Rendering such documents accessible, and in particular denying such access, is subject to
court and administrative supervision.
Ad 2. Persons who exercise public functions or apply to exercise such functions are obliged do
submit a statement in which they declare whether they worked or performed service within the secret
service authorities of the former totalitarian state or whether they collaborated, in a secret, informed and
voluntary way, with these authorities. The categories of public functions, as incumbent, as well as the
range of persons involved, have been determined by means of the referent statutory act, and have lately
been reviewed by the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland. Veracity of a vetting statement
is subject to verification by the Vetting Offices. Verification of statements concerns people who have
declared that they did not work for, provide services to or collaborate with the former secret services,
and is performed in a twofold manner:
– The administrative and archival stage. This initial stage implies verification, by means of the filling
system, if a referent person appears in documents of the former security services.
– The prosecution and court stage. In case it is established that there are records concerning a
referent person in the archives of the former security services, a prosecutor, having analysed
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