Businesses required to lustrate themselves

On March 15, the Vetting Act comes into effect. According the Act, members of some professional groups who were born before 1972 and serve in a public capacity, will be called on to give testimony concerning cooperation with the communist secret services (SB) between 1944-1990.

Apart from the President, Prime Minister, and other highly ranked state officials, a number of other positions are considered "public service" for the purposes of vetting. This list of professions includes rectors and deans of tertiary education institutions, university professors, lawyers, debt collectors, tax advisors, officials in local governments, journalists and members of boards of entities supervised by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority.

The Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) estimates that about 700,000 people will be included in the lustration, which will take place in twenty select courts. Consequently, no one can predict how long the process will last.

Meanwhile, employers in the relevant industries will be required to request their employees' testimony within one month from the day the Vetting Act comes into effect. These employees, in turn, will have one month to present their testimony from the time they are asked for it. In cases of refusal or perjury, the employee will lose their post and be banned from working in their profession for 10 years.

All testimonies will be published on the internet by the IPN, which will also publish the list of former SB agents and collaborators.