The bill of desubecation, which was intended to be a flagship success and a symbol of accounts with the past of the Polish People's Republic, turned into 1 of the biggest financial burdens on the state budget. alternatively of savings, it generates billions of costs and courts massively reconstruct benefits to erstwhile officers. The Treasury has already paid over PLN 2.5 billion, and this is not the end of the rising spending. Why is this happening and what are the long-term implications for public finances?
Billion-dollar Account for the State: Genesis and the Effects of the Desubecation Act
Adopted by Law and Justice in 2016, the bill of desubecation aimed at removing pension rights from persons who served in the safety apparatus of the Polish People's Republic. Its main presumption was to reduce the benefits of erstwhile uniformed service officers to no higher than the average benefit from the Social Insurance Institution. This affected nearly 39 000 people who, in the opinion of the legislator, did not deserve advanced benefits due to their past.
However, what was to be a symbol of historical justice and a origin of savings rapidly became an costly legal battle. According to the data provided by the deputy minister of the Ministry of abroad Affairs Wiesław Szczepański, so far the state had to pay out over PLN 2.5 billion to erstwhile officers. This amount is constantly increasing, putting into question the efficiency and intent of the full project.
Wave of Appeals and Breakthrough Judgments of the Courts
The consequence to the simplification of benefits was a massive wave of appeals. As many as 27 1000 of the 39 000 injured erstwhile officers decided to take the judicial path, questioning the decisions of the MIA Pension and Pension Plant. Initially, these cases were suspended pending the resolution of the Constitutional Court, which was to measure the compatibility of the Act with the Constitution. However, the Court did not undertake to examine the law in this respect, which opened the way for the general courts.
The ultimate Court ruled that any simplification in retirement should be assessed individually, given the nature of the service and the circumstantial circumstances. This explanation undermined the automation on which the bill was based, and became the basis for thousands of affirmative decisions in favour of the recipients. The first final judgement favorable to the erstwhile officer fell in 2021, thus beginning the way for mass returns of the received money.
Detailed Account: How Is the Cost of Desubecisation Growing?
Analyzing the data, it is clear that the state's commitments have grown rapidly. From 2021 until the end of 2023, the MIA Pension and Pension Department carried out 8.4 1000 court sentences, paying the erstwhile officers a full of PLN 1.3 billion. It was just the beginning.
After the change of power, from December 2023 to July 2025, the rate of withdrawal accelerated. During this period, another 6.6 1000 cases ended with payments of PLN 1.2 billion. In total, this gives more than 15 1000 positively examined sentences and a sum exceeding PLN 2.5 billion. It is worth noting that this data only covers the judgments carried out – many cases are inactive pending, which means that the final bill will be even higher.
Additional charges: Judicial and Administrative costs
Billions of benefits are not the only costs generated by the Act of Desubecation. The trial itself is costly. By the end of February 2025, ZER had to pay PLN 3.5 million for legal representation, covering the costs of attorneys and legal advisers of erstwhile officers. An additional million PLN ministry paid for the inaction of the body in the case of persons who applied and did not receive the decision within the time limit. These sums, although little than the reimbursements themselves, represent a further burden on the state budget, resulting straight from the flaws and complexity of the implementation process of the Act.
In order to velocity up procedures and reduce delays, a solution was introduced in March 2024, according to which, after a first instance ruling beneficial to the pensioner, the ZER automatically restores the benefit. This aims to relieve the burden on the courts and reduce the waiting time for the decision, but at the same time speeds up the payments, which immediately translates into increased budget spending.
What's Next With PRL Pensions? Forecasts and Unsolved Cases
There are inactive more than 2,000 cases of de-succuity in the courts, of which about 300 appeals are pending. If the existing court line is maintained, the account for the state budget may inactive increase significantly. It should be remembered that around 11,000 people did not appeal the 2017 decision of the ZER, which means that the possible number of cases could have been even higher.
The sad aspect is that respective 1000 erstwhile officers, frequently aged (many of whom were over 70 or 80 years old), did not see their cases resolved. Their conflict for the restoration of benefits ended with their lives, which puts the humanitarian dimension of the full bill at question.
The first estimates provided that the bill of desubecation would save you respective 100 million PLN per year. In practice, however, in only 4 years, the State spent more than 8 times the originally planned savings. This gigantic cost resulting from legislative errors and mass judicial interventions is simply a clear example of how politically motivated laws can have far-reaching and costly consequences for public finances. The question of whether the state is ready for further billion-dollar spending remains open.
Continued here:
Desubecization: Billions from the PRL Pension Budget? Judicial Inversion of the Effects of the Act
