Unprecedented Inaction of the National Broadcasting Council – Administrative Courts Sanction the Chairman for Gross Violations of Law

Foundation Basta’s Complaints on Broadcasts and the Lack of Action by the National Broadcasting Council

Between May 2022 and July 2025, the human rights NGO Foundation Basta submitted a total of 71 petitions to the Chairman of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), requesting ex officio administrative proceedings concerning violations in audiovisual broadcasts. These petitions referred to content promoting hate speech or undermining human dignity in television and radio programs, in breach of Article 18(1) of the Broadcasting Act.

Despite meeting all formal requirements, none of the 71 petitions were properly considered by the Chairman of KRRiT – no administrative proceedings were ever initiated. This amounted to a complete regulatory standstill in the face of reported violations.

A Series of Warsaw Administrative Court Rulings Confirming Inaction

Faced with this inaction, Foundation Basta filed complaints to the Warsaw Provincial Administrative Court (WSA). To date, the Court has issued over 30 rulings confirming the Chairman’s inactivity – 34 rulings in total.

• In cases concerning broadcasts from 2022, seven WSA rulings were issued, all subsequently upheld by the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) after dismissing the Chairman’s cassation appeals.
• In cases from 2023, 27 WSA rulings were issued; in 25 of them, the Court held that the Chairman’s inactivity constituted a gross violation of law.

The Court imposed financial sanctions: in 21 cases (since May 2025), WSA fined the regulator PLN 5,000 each and additionally awarded Foundation Basta PLN 2,500 compensation per case. Altogether, fines amounted to PLN 135,000and compensation to PLN 52,500 – a remedy virtually unprecedented in Polish administrative case law.

Court Findings: Gross Violations and Deliberate Inaction

The Warsaw court’s reasoning was exceptionally severe. It emphasized that proceedings concerning broadcasters’ violations must be conducted “in an expedited manner”, since “a fine may only be imposed within one year of the broadcast”. Failure to act within this statutory period rendered proceedings meaningless.

The Court concluded that the Chairman’s failure to act within the one-year limitation was not accidental but deliberate:

“In the Court’s view, the conduct of the Authority must be considered as deliberately aimed at preventing the Party from effectively acting to obtain the result of imposing a sanction on the broadcaster.”

In other words, the Chairman intentionally allowed the limitation period to expire, thereby making it impossible to impose fines on broadcasters for clear violations of law.

The Court further stated:

“The Authority was obliged to know the inevitable consequences of its delay – namely the expiry of the statutory period to impose financial penalties on broadcasters. Such conduct justifies the imposition of a PLN 5,000 fine.”

The rulings also highlighted that Foundation Basta was irreversibly deprived of its right to a court – since after the lapse of the statutory one-year deadline, no sanction proceedings against broadcasters could be pursued.

Unprecedented Measures: Fines and Compensation for the Foundation

The WSA did not limit itself to ordering the Chairman to issue overdue decisions. Recognizing the drastic character of the violations, it resorted to extraordinary remedies: fines against the authority and monetary compensation for the NGO.

As the Court explained:

“Neither the order to consider the petition (after expiry of the limitation period), nor the fine – which does not restore the statutory deadline – will constitute a sufficient sanction. Only the award of a monetary sum to the complainant serves a compensatory and preventive function against such repeated violations.”

Thus, Foundation Basta received PLN 2,500 per case in compensation, a measure almost never applied in Polish administrative courts. The Court stressed that this was necessary because the NGO had been irreversibly deprived of its statutory right to seek sanctions against broadcasters.

Consequences for Media Oversight in Poland

This string of rulings reveals a systemic failure in Poland’s media regulatory framework. A constitutional authority – KRRiT – was found to have deliberately failed to perform its statutory duties, thereby shielding broadcasters from accountability.

Consequences include:

• Parliamentary scrutiny: In November 2024, the Polish Sejm requested the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) to investigate KRRiT’s failure to uphold constitutional duties in safeguarding freedom of speech, the right to information, and the public interest.
• EU-level oversight: In July 2023, Foundation Basta lodged a complaint with the European Commission, alleging Poland’s failure to enforce EU audiovisual media law by not sanctioning broadcasters such as TVP and Radio Maryja despite evident violations.

Conclusion

The unprecedented series of rulings against the Chairman of KRRiT marks a turning point for media regulation in Poland. For the first time, courts explicitly recognized the deliberate, unlawful inaction of a constitutional body and sanctioned it with both fines and compensatory awards.

This case underscores the need for urgent systemic reform: a regulator that fails to act undermines the rule of law and public trust in media oversight. The Warsaw Administrative Court’s rulings send a clear message – citizens and NGOs are not powerless, and deliberate state inaction will not go unchecked.