Special Services

A key measure is the mandatory obligation for the court to provide justification for every decision concerning operational surveillance—whether granting or refusing authorisation. As a result, these decisions are based on more comprehensive knowledge and detailed information presented by the services.

This was a very important decision by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, raising the level of protection for citizens’ rights and freedoms

- emphasised the Minister for Special Services Coordination, Tomasz Siemoniak.

Initiative of the Special Services Coordinator
 

At the initiative of the Minister – member of the Council of Ministers and Special Services Coordinator, Tomasz Siemoniak, in December 2024 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. They now enable the authorities deciding on the imposition of operational surveillance — the National Prosecutor and the competent court—to obtain a more complete picture than before, so that the information provided is proportionate to the situation in the case and the nature of the prosecuted offence.

Precise principles and restrictions

Each special service, when applying for operational surveillance, is now required to specify precisely:

1.    the type of technical means to be used,
2.    the functionalities of those means,
3.    the information or data whose acquisition is planned.

The regulations clearly limit the use of operational surveillance solely to matters of the most serious nature. These include espionage, terrorism, illegal trafficking in weapons, ammunition, explosives, or weapons of mass destruction. This measure may also be applied in cases concerning offences that threaten the economic foundations of the state.

Enhanced oversight by courts and prosecutors

Under current regulations, the special service must attach to the application for operational surveillance all materials justifying its use. In the case of an application to extend surveillance, materials gathered in the course of its conduct must also be submitted. The government is consistently strengthening oversight of the use of this measure, in particular the supervision of an independent court.
New information obligations for the services

The government’s objective is to further enhance oversight, especially by independent courts, over operational surveillance. In this respect, intensive work is underway on a draft act under which the service will be obliged to inform the court of the results of operational surveillance once it has concluded.

At the court’s request, information on the course of surveillance will also be provided during its conduct. In addition, the court will be granted the power to issue a decision to terminate operational surveillance at any time.

Effectiveness and the protection of citizens’ rights

The measures introduced and those planned are intended to increase transparency, effectiveness and oversight of the activities of special services, while safeguarding citizens’ rights and freedoms. The government is consistently striving to ensure that operational surveillance is applied only in justified cases and that decisions in this regard are made in a fully controlled and transparent manner.