The author discussed the premises of public functionaries’ liability for damages and procedure of its realization due to the Public Functionaries Financial Liability for Flagrant Breaches of Law Act of 20 January 2011. The aims of this Act as formulated by the legislator were: a reduction of number of flagrant breaches of law cases including administrative decisions issued with contravention of the law, a betterment of carrying out business activities conditions and at the same time contribution to business development, a diminution of financial burdens of State Treasury and other public entities, and an increase of citizen’s trust in public administration. During legislative process many reservations to bills regulating public functionaries’ liability were raised by legal experts. Unfortunately, these critical remarks have not been taken into account by the legislator. Therefore, the important question of making recourse liability of public functionaries real is still not resolved. In the article following questions have been described: the subjective and objective scope of public functionaries’ civil liability, premises of it and procedural regulations. The author pointed out some controversial questions concerning participation of a regional prosecutor in the proceedings which aim at a recourse liability of public functionary, and presented the most convincing solutions of them.
The submitted bill sets out the conditions for liability of the Treasury for the loss caused to functionaries and their “eligible family members” and the procedure for granting them indemnity benefits. The bill causes substantive doubts, as it deprives the aggrieved party of compensation for harm to property, in particular, for personal items lost, destroyed or damaged when on duty. Article 9 paragraph 1 of the bill appears to violate the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, as it excludes from those covered by insurance – without adequate justification – spouses in the separation. The bill also requires clarification by indicating whether or not granting (on the basis of the bill) a one‑time indemnity benefit affects the scope of compensation awarded under the general rules following the same event. In addition, Article 34 paragraph 3 of the bill is inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, since it denies the recourse to the law in some cases for compensation.
The author discussed the objective scope of public functionaries’ liability for damages due to the Public Functionaries Financial Liability for Flagrant Breaches of Law Act of 20 January 2011. In the article some legal problems dealt with narrow scope of public functionarius’ liability as regulated by the legislator have been analyzed.
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