This Country Report on Poland describes and analyses criminal responsibility in relation to the following areas of environmental protection:

• Waste management
• Trade in endangered species of flora and fauna
• Pollution of the marine environment

It is based on the analysis of the relevant international conventions and the transposition of relevant EU Law into the Polish context.

The research was done on the basis on relevant Polish legislation, and relevant international conventions and EU law, as well as interviews conducted with relevant officials in Poland in the three above mentioned areas of interest.These interviews widened the scope and depth of the research as they covered not only the issue of what were the applicable rules and regulations, but also their issue of their practical implementation in Poland.

The Report’s general assessment of the state of the relevant law in Poland, and of the country’s level of compliance with EU law, gives an encouraging impression in the light of the relatively short duration of Polish membership of the EU by comparison with states such as the United Kingdom and Germany.