EN
The provisions of the Act of 23 July 2003 on the protection and care of monuments define the legal framework for the cultural heritage law in Poland. It defines not only obligations of owners (holders) of the monuments but also contain provisions regarding penalties for failure to implement these obligations. Among these provisions, the legislator introduced criminal sanctions and administrative sanctions (administrative fines), which were added on 1 January 2018 as a remedy for the ineffectiveness of criminal provisions. At the same time criminal provisions will be repealed from 1 January 2024. After four years of binding force of administrative fines, it may be tempting to assess whether the goals of these regulations assumed by the legislator are effectively implemented and to indicate the potential de lege ferenda conclusions in this regard. Nevertheless, on the basis of a given data, it can be argued that, despite the hopes placed on it, the administrative fine has not become as effective as they could and should. The above calls into question the rationality of the decision to abandon criminal sanctions in favour of administrative sanctions, but it should also encourage the search for other instruments for the protection of Polish monuments.