Recent Developments Regardingthe Conduct of Dawn Raids in Poland.The Case of Subsequent Searches of Copied IT Data

Abstract

2017 brought about a significant and long awaited change in the rules applicable to dawn raids in Poland. After many years of being criticized by scholars and practitioners, the practice of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection – consisting of the subsequent review of electronic data copied during an inspection at the authority premises and without the presence of a representative of the inspected undertaking, has been finally overruled by the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection. Even thought there are still several improvements that need to be made in order to guarantee the full respect of fundamental rights of inspected undertakings in the Polish legal order, the Court ruling incontestably constitutes a significant step in strengthening the legal position of inspected undertakings in Poland.

Keywords

• inspection powers
• dawn raids
• electronic evidence
• it data
• right to defence
• polkomtel