Interventions
With hunting regards
Is it possible to find out how the regional boards of the Polish Hunting Association operate and how they spend funds related to hunting management? We decided to check by submitting information requests to all 49 regional boards. Most either refused to respond or remained silent—only after more than a year of disputes and court proceedings did the first documents begin to emerge.
Appeal to abolish criminal liability for defamation
As Citizens Network Watchdog Poland, together with other organizations, we called for the abolition of criminal liability for defamation.
We believe that criminal provisions in this area are used to exert pressure on journalists, activists, and individuals speaking out on public matters. Instead of protecting public debate, they can suppress it and discourage people from exposing wrongdoing.
That is why we advocate for defamation cases to be handled under civil law rather than criminal law. This is essential for freedom of expression and effective public oversight of those in power.
At the local level
We created a nationwide platform – Everyone has to work somewhere – that allows you to check whether councillors in municipality are employed by entities dependent on the local government. We want to show the scale of a phenomenon that—although often legal—raises questions about conflicts of interest and the transparency of public life. Residents can co-create the database, report cases, and help build a more complete picture of the relationships between councillors and local institutions.
Daily life at Watchdog Poland
In March, we published our annual report on the state of transparency in Poland. The year 2025 did not bring a breakthrough in Poland in terms of the right to information, but it clearly showed where transparency is lacking. On the one hand, we observed important court rulings, interventions by the Commissioner for Human Rights, and a return to some key legislative reforms, such as the Central Register of Contracts. On the other hand, fundamental problems persisted: the lack of ratification of the Tromsø Convention, Poland’s failure to join the Open Government Partnership, inconsistent practices among public authorities, lengthy proceedings, the misuse of the concept of processed information, and a growing tension between transparency and other values such as privacy, security, and control of online communication.
The Report on the State of Transparency in Poland 2025 is an attempt to organize the most important events that influenced the practical exercise of the right to information over the past year. We present both the international context—including the activities of the Council of Europe, UNESCO, and the UN—and the domestic situation: administrative court case law, the actions of the Constitutional Tribunal, interventions by the Commissioner for Human Rights, legislative changes, and issues related to the media, new technologies, and access to information about the activities of public institutions.
The year 2025 confirmed that the state of transparency is not determined solely by legislation. Equally important are the practices of public authorities, the standards of judicial review, the quality of public institutions, the functioning of the media and digital platforms, and the state’s willingness to recognize that public information is not the property of the administration but a right of everyone. That is why, alongside a description of events and cases, we also present recommendations for 2026—covering both legislative changes and institutional actions needed to genuinely strengthen the right to information in Poland. The report is available at this link, and below we present its summary.
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