Conotoxia Holding has announced firm steps to change Polish law to make government officials fully accountable for the damage they have caused entrepreneurs. The company's proposals include, among other things, a drastic tightening of penalties, the possibility of seizing an official's assets and extending the period for pursuing liability to up to 25 years in the case of the most severe damage.
Severe penalties and confiscation of assets
According to Conotoxia's proposal, if an official causes damage exceeding five times the value of a high-value property (i.e. more than PLN 5 million), they would face imprisonment from 3 to 20 years. In the case of a tenfold value (over 10 million PLN), the sanctions would be even from 5 to 25 years' imprisonment. Additionally, following the Italian example, there would be confiscation of the assets of an official found guilty by the court of causing damage.
According to the proposals, if compensation is awarded for erroneous decisions, the official would first pay from their own assets, not the State Treasury. Conotoxia's position is that similarly strict regulations are in place in the United States, where negligent officials can receive financial penalties amounting to millions of dollars.
Extended liability and a lifelong ban from office
In our view, the current legislation in Poland in this area is 'dead' and often unenforced. Therefore, we want to restore the actual liability of officials by proposing to extend the period for claiming damages to 15 years from the moment the controversial administrative decision was issued. In the case of the largest damages (of so-called 'great magnitude'), this period could reach 25 years. At the same time, Conotoxia calls for the introduction of a lifetime ban on holding public administration positions, even for relatively minor but confirmed abuses.
The project initiators emphasise that over the past few years, the government has been able to push through various changes in the law at an express pace—often overnight. According to Conotoxia, it should not take long to introduce solutions that raise the level of honesty in the state administration. "The days of the communist regime are long gone. There is no place for impunity of government officials who often exceed their powers," explain the company's representatives.
Cross-border examples and support for affected companies
The Conotoxia team announces that it will use all available business and political contacts in the European Union and the United States to pressure the Polish government to adopt stricter legislation. In doing so, the company cites a number of examples from other countries where the law has been effective in deterring officials from abusive practices, and their assets have sometimes been confiscated at the early stages of proceedings.
In preparation for the campaign for new regulations, Conotoxia also intends to gather a group of enterprises wronged by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) and other public institutions to jointly demand that the Polish state make a fundamental change to the rules of official liability. The company announces it is open to submissions from entrepreneurs who have suffered damage due to incompetence or deliberate actions by administration representatives. 'We want services and offices to follow procedures and any wrongdoing to be severely punished. Nobody should be intimidated, and nobody should feel unpunished,' emphasise the Conotoxia representatives.
The Management Board of Conotoxia Holding