Poland’s Supreme Audit Office (NIK) has once again issued a strongly critical assessment of the Justice Fund. In a report published on 16 March 2026, NIK stated that during the audited period—from 1 January 2021 to 9 May 2025—the fund operated in violation of basic public finance principles, with the total value of identified irregularities reaching nearly PLN 270 million. The negative evaluation covered both the functioning of the fund itself and the actions of the Minister of Justice, who serves as its administrator.
The Justice Fund was established in 2012 as a state special-purpose fund intended primarily to support victims of crime and provide post-penitentiary assistance for former prisoners. According to NIK, however, subsequent legislative changes—particularly the 2017 expansion of the fund’s mandate to include broadly defined “crime prevention” activities—blurred its original purpose and enabled the financing of projects only loosely related to its statutory mission.
Scope of the Audit
The audit, launched in May 2024, covered not only the Ministry of Justice but also 22 beneficiaries, including one university and 21 non-governmental organizations. Inspectors examined 30 contracts worth more than PLN 260 million, representing slightly over 30% of the total value of all contracts active during the period under review.
The audit focused on three main areas of the fund’s activities:
- post-penitentiary assistance,
- support for crime victims and witnesses,
- initiatives categorized as crime prevention.
According to NIK, one of the main problems was the introduction of mechanisms allowing broad and weakly supervised distribution of funds. The office concluded that the non-competitive procedure for awarding grants enabled the minister to allocate funds to almost any entity and for purposes only superficially related to the fund’s objectives.
Questionable Spending
NIK cited several examples of projects financed by the fund that had limited connection to its statutory purpose. These included:
- a construction project used primarily for a foundation’s own activities,
- the creation and maintenance of websites publishing content supporting specific political parties,
- the purchase of a camper van,
- street and mountain running events,
- film festivals,
- legal and managerial education programmes for selected groups.
The auditors also pointed out that more than PLN 66 million was allocated to an investment by the Profeto.pl Foundation, which was required to provide support to crime victims for only one year.
Concerns About Grant Competitions
Particularly severe criticism was directed at the grant competition process. NIK concluded that many competitions had only a formal character, while principles of fair competition were violated.
According to the auditors’ findings, some entities allegedly received informal assistance from ministry employees even before submitting applications—and sometimes before competitions were officially announced. The report also described attempts to influence the decisions of evaluation committees, including suggestions to alter scoring or sending selected applications for reassessment by different evaluators when initial scores were too low to secure funding.
NIK reported that within the area of crime prevention, 16 out of 18 audited grants, with a total value of PLN 98.7 million, were awarded without proper justification.
Weak Oversight and Conflicts of Interest
The audit also accused the fund’s administrator of failing to properly safeguard the interests of the State Treasury in grant agreements. According to NIK, some contractors obtained improper financial gains from lump-sum administrative costs that were not adequately documented, while the system of oversight over contract implementation proved ineffective.
Inspectors additionally identified conflicts of interest and a lack of reliable verification of both the results and costs of projects financed by the fund. In NIK’s assessment, the actions of individuals managing the fund between 2021 and 2023 were not only unreliable but often intentional and aimed at supporting specific groups of beneficiaries.
Spending on Promotion
Another area of criticism concerned expenditures on promoting the Justice Fund. NIK stated that decisions regarding the direction and scale of promotional activities were made at the discretion of officials, and contractors were selected either in violation of procurement regulations or under conditions that only gave the appearance of competition.
The audit noted that such promotional activities intensified significantly in 2023, the year of Poland’s parliamentary elections, and that some of the initiatives appeared to serve the purpose of building the public image of specific individuals.
Exceeding Administrative Cost Limits
NIK also criticized the fund for exceeding statutory limits on administrative costs. In 2021, the limit of PLN 6.4 million was exceeded by nearly PLN 1 million, while in 2023 the limit of PLN 11.6 million was exceeded by as much as PLN 16.6 million, or 142%.
According to NIK, this was largely the result of a dramatic increase in promotional spending during and shortly before the election campaign, meaning that funds intended to support crime victims and help former prisoners reintegrate into society were used contrary to existing regulations.
Systemic Problems
The report also highlights a broader systemic issue. NIK pointed out that despite earlier inspections and recommendations submitted to the ministry, the irregularities were not eliminated and in some cases even worsened.
The auditors acknowledged that new regulations introduced in December 2024 have reduced the risk of discretionary and non-transparent distribution of funds. However, they emphasized that the system still lacks a detailed catalogue of tasks assigned to the Justice Fund and a coherent long-term concept for its functioning.
Ministry Promises Greater Transparency
At the same time, the Ministry of Justice has declared its intention to rebuild the fund’s transparency. According to the ministry, the future operation of the Justice Fund will be based on three pillars: substantive merit, decentralization, and full transparency in spending.
The ministry also stated that applications are currently being evaluated in a 2026 grant competition for assistance to crime victims, with part of the funding expected to support comprehensive legal, psychological, medical and social assistance for victims.
NIK Calls for Reform
In its conclusions, NIK calls for urgent corrective measures. Among the recommendations are:
- developing a new operational concept for the Justice Fund,
- clarifying its statutory tasks,
- limiting and precisely defining funding for “crime prevention” activities,
- introducing objective criteria for evaluating grant applications,
- strengthening supervision over beneficiaries,
- implementing safeguards against conflicts of interest and corruption risks.
According to NIK, only such reforms can restore the fund’s original purpose and ensure that its resources are directed where they were meant to go from the beginning—primarily to victims of crime and individuals leaving prison.
