Summary of the report

The entire report is available at this link

In 2024, we continued our intensive efforts to protect the right to information, strengthen transparency in public life and support civic engagement. One of the most important events was the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, which found that the refusal to disclose the meeting schedules of the Constitutional Tribunal constituted a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This ruling strengthened the position of civil society organisations as guardians of public debate and confirmed the obligation of authorities to disclose relevant information.

At the same time, we were involved in legislative work – we monitored proposals for changes to the Central Register of Contracts and continued our efforts to reform the law on access to public information. Together with a national and international coalition, we worked to counter SLAPP – proceedings aimed at silencing criticism of journalists and activists. We organised conferences and training sessions, and provided legal assistance in 12 cases. Our activities were supported by the “Fight SLAPP!” campaign, which helped us raise some of the funds needed to support victims of such actions.
As part of our legal advice service, we received a record number of 1,561 cases, and our citizen monitoring tool was used by various organisations to investigate the functioning of schools, environmental protection and the activities of public institutions.

We also actively participated in international initiatives (CEELI, Meijers Committee, CASE, K-Monitor) and in the work on Poland’s accession to the Open Government Partnership.
We conducted extensive educational activities, including courses, workshops, local meetings, the Watchdog Initiative School, and rallies for people working for transparency and human rights. We travelled around Poland and met with residents as part of the “Transparency on the Road” initiative. We also strengthened our communication – we launched the “Okiem Watchdoga” (Through the Eyes of Watchdog) series, published over 260 articles, and developed our presence on social media.

Changes related to the mass use of artificial intelligence in 2023 opened up new opportunities for us. We used the experience gained in the Sprawdzamyjakjest.pl project, which was completed in 2024, and for a year and a half we invested in the introduction of solutions using artificial intelligence to analyse documents obtained through access to information.
The 1.5% campaign raised PLN 1,495,533.70, which was supported by over 6,300 people.