Successful appeal at the Regional Court against a ZE-R MSWiA decision issued on the basis of the so-called “Act on Reducing Pensions of Former Members of the Communist Security Services”

On 28 August 2020, the Regional Court in Warsaw, 13th Labour and Social Security Division issued a verdict by which it amended the appealed decision of the Director of the Pension Fund of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration and restored the appellant’s right to a pension in the amount before 1 October 2017.

The Regional Court agreed with the arguments presented by the Law Firm, finding, among others, that it is not allowed to reduce benefits again under another regulation aimed at settling the past by changing the rules of functioning of the pension system for people serving during the communist era. The Regional Court also emphasised that in 2009 the first reduction in the benefits of former security officers of the People’s Republic of Poland was introduced, which was assessed by the Constitutional Tribunal (judgment of 24 February 2010, case ref.: K 6/09 ) as fair and proportionate, and therefore yet another interference in regulations concerning pension protection made for the same reason should not take place.

The decision of the Regional Court in Warsaw is of significant importance in the cases of all appeals against the decision on the reassessment of the amount of pension benefits issued by the Director of the Pension Fund of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration in connection with the entry into force of the Act of 16 December 2016 amending the Act on Pensions for officers of the Police, Internal Security Agency, Foreign Intelligence Agency, Military Counterintelligence Service, Military Intelligence Service, Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, Border Guard, Government Protection Bureau, State Fire Service and Prison Service and their families.

The appellant was represented by: attorney-at-law Jan Dudzik and trainee attorney Dominika Krzysztofik from our Warsaw office.