Yesterday's decision of the Voivodeship Administrative Court (WSA) to dismiss our complaint regarding the revocation of Conotoxia sp. z o.o. 's payment licence by the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority (KNF) confirms the deep crisis of the legal system in Poland. Despite our belief that the court would be objective and recognise the apparent abuses committed by the KNF, we are again faced with bureaucrats who feel they can act above the law with impunity and beyond real state control.
The court ruling is not legally binding, and no written justification has been provided. According to the verbal reasons given, it appears that the Voivodeship Administrative Court referred very superficially to the charges described in the complaint. In particular, the court ignored KNF's procedural violations in terms of failure to notify the company of the evidence collected and the possibility of taking a position, as well as submitting evidence requests before issuing a decision. This obligation results from Article 10 of the Code of Administrative Procedure. It expresses the fundamental principle of a party's right to defence in administrative proceedings in which the authority collects evidence without informing the party and is obliged to enable the party to familiarise itself with this material and take a position.
The court did not address the main allegations of the complaint, namely the obligations formulated by the KNF, which do not result from the provisions of the Act. Such behaviour is a sign of the Authority's 'law-making' activities, for which it has no competence. The court relied on the stereotype of a professional entity. However, it is worth remembering that the same entity, i.e. the KNF, issued decisions in the past, e.g. in the case of the Polish Bank of Apicultures, which were the basis for a number of proceedings in various modes. Moreover, it was also in this entity that corruption situations involving the former chairman of the KNF took place. Another example is the decisions that resulted in the State Treasury's liability for damages (case concerning FM Bank). Therefore, it is not enough to stop at the stereotype of a professional entity, and the KNF is not exempt from applying the provisions of administrative procedure and cannot violate the party's right to defence, as this undermines the foundations of entrepreneurs' activities.
In addition, the court has not yet referred the complaint against the decision to suspend the execution of the contested decision to a higher court, depriving the company of its right to judicial review.
The company strongly disagrees with the announced ruling and will file a complaint with the Supreme Administrative Court.
We have repeatedly indicated the phenomenon of mutual protection and avoidance of responsibility by the state authorities. The best example of this was initiating an investigation into the KNF's abuse of power, confirmed to us by the prosecutor's office - only to mysteriously withdraw from it. We now see a similar mechanism in the case of the WSA.
Polish justice may fail, but that is not the end of the case.
The Management Board of Conotoxia Holding