Polish president vetoes government bill on child-protection measures

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Opposition-aligned President Karol Nawrocki has vetoed a government bill amending rules relating to child protection. He says the measures would have left children without adequate protection from contact with people who have criminal records. However, the justice ministry denies that claim.

The decision means that Nawrocki, who took office on 6 August, has now vetoed as many bills in his first month as his predecessor, Andrzej Duda, who was also aligned with the opposition, did during the almost 20 months that he was in office at the same time as the current government.

Announcing the president’s decision, the head of his chancellery, Zbigniew Bogucki, said that there were “many reasons” for vetoing the bill, which contains “major shortcomings” that would “reduce the protection of children’s rights”.

He noted that the state commissioner for children’s rights, Monika Horna-Cieślak, who was appointed with the support of the ruling coalition, had also expressed serious concerns about the proposed legislation.

The bill in question would have introduced amendments to a child-protection law that was passed in 2023 in the wake of the death of an eight-year-old boy, Kamilek, at the hands of his stepfather.

While the law enjoyed broad political and public support, since its introduction, some parents, schools and other institutions that work with children have complained that certain elements create too great an administrative burden or that the requirements are not always clear.

In response, the justice ministry said that the new legislation was intended to “address interpretative uncertainties that have arisen in the practical application of existing regulations, particularly those concerning the verification of criminal records of individuals employed or engaging in activities involving children”.

Among the amendments in the bill vetoed today were an end to the requirement for “double verification” of an individual. For example, a school would no longer have to check the criminal record of a coach who had already been verified by a sports club, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Meanwhile, parents who want to help out with school field trips or other extracurricular activities would also no longer themselves have to obtain criminal record checks. Instead, the school principal would do so.

People visiting schools who work in professions that require having a clean criminal record – such as police officers, lawyers and judges – would no longer have to present certificates proving this. Guests invited to school activities at which a teacher is present would also no longer be required to have such certificates.

The bill was approved by parliament earlier this month, with MPs from the ruling coalition – which ranges from left to centre right – voting in favour. However, opposition MPs from the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) abstained from voting.

Meanwhile, Horna-Cieślak submitted a negative opinion on the legislation, which she said would “significantly and unjustifiably lower the standard of protection for children from harm, creating a real threat to their safety”.

“According to the proposed legal regulations, in practice it may happen that people convicted of, among others, murder, human trafficking, making criminal threats, child abduction, drug trafficking or sexual exploitation of children will be able to have contact with children,” she added.

Bogucki said today that Nawrocki shares those concerns and had therefore exercised his right to veto the bill. Presidential vetoes can be overturned by a three-fifths majority in parliament, but the government does not have enough MPs to reach that threshold.

The president’s decision was condemned by deputy justice minister Arkadiusz Myrcha, who said that, as a result, “parents will still be required to submit certificates of no criminal record”, “interpretive doubts remain”, and “the effort of hundreds of people and organisations working on the bill has been wasted”.

Speaking earlier this week, before the veto, Mychra had defended the bill, saying that it maintains “zero tolerance for those who threaten children’s wellbeing” while also “simplifying and streamlining procedures, so that the provisions are effective and practical”.

Since coming to office just over three weeks ago, Nawrocki – whose presidential candidacy was supported by PiS – has vetoed a series of government bills, including on easing rules for building wind farms and on extending support for Ukrainian refugees.

This week, the new president and government held their first meeting, during which Nawrocki clashed with Prime Minister Donald Tusk over a number of issues.

Both men claimed that they would be willing to work together on issues of national interest. However, it appears likely that the government will continue to clash with the president during its remaining two years in office before scheduled parliamentary elections in autumn 2027.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Łukasz Błasikiewicz/KPRP

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.