Special Services

The changes implement constitutional standards and address expectations regarding the improvement of the protection of civil rights and liberties. They also respond to irregularities identified during the work of the Commission of Inquiry on the use of Pegasus software and by the Supreme Audit Office during its review of special services’ oversight between 2017 and 2021. The new solutions also address demands made by the Constitutional Tribunal, which in its judgement of 30 July 2014 (case ref. K 23/11) highlighted the need to specify the ‘method of covert intrusion into an individual’s privacy’ in legislation.

With this in mind, at the initiative of the Minister for Special Services Coordination, Tomasz Siemoniak, provisions regarding the scope of information submitted to the prosecution and courts when applying for authorisation for operational surveillance by the Internal Security Agency, Military Counterintelligence Service and Central Anti-Corruption Bureau have been amended. Decision-making authorities (the National Prosecutor and the District Court) can now obtain the fullest possible information to ensure that the scope of surveillance matches the situation and the nature of the crime being investigated.

The changes oblige special services to specify: the type of tool to be used for operational surveillance; the general functionality of the technical means planned for use; what materials (information and data) are to be obtained as a result. Another key change is the requirement for the court to justify its decision on ordering or extending operational surveillance in all cases, not only—as previously—when refusing the request.
The amended legal acts are:

Regulation of the Prime Minister amending the regulation on the manner of documenting operational surveillance by the Internal Security Agency and the storage and transmission of requests and orders, as well as the storage, transmission, processing and destruction of materials obtained during such surveillance;

Regulation of the Prime Minister amending the regulation on the manner of documenting operational surveillance by the Military Counterintelligence Service and the storage and transmission of requests and orders, the storage, transmission, processing and destruction of materials obtained during such surveillance, as well as templates for forms and registers.

Regulation of the Prime Minister amending the regulation on the manner of documenting operational surveillance by the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, storage and transmission of requests, decisions and orders, and storage, transmission, processing and destruction of materials obtained during such surveillance.