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Henryk Hoser
ORCID: 0000-0001-9949-9187

Attorney-at-law, an expert with many years of experience in personal data protection law, a member of the Warsaw Bar Association and of the Personal Data Protection Law Section at the District Bar Council in Warsaw. Speaker at numerous conferences, trainings, and webinars devoted to personal data protection. Author and co-author of many publications on personal data protection.

 
DOI: 10.33226/0137-5490.2026.8.4
JEL: K23

The article analyses the issue of limitation periods o of administrative fines imposed by the President of the Polish Data Protection Authority (PUODO) for violations of the GDPR. The aim of the publication is to assess whether the absence of an explicit regulation on limitation periods directly in the GDPR excludes the application of national provisions on this matter, as set out in the Code of Administrative Procedure. The authors argue that the five-year limitation period for both the imposition and enforcement of a fine, established in Article 189g of the Code of Administrative Procedure, should apply to penalties provided for in Art. 83 of the GDPR. The article also discusses the opposing view, reflected in the positions of the supervisory authority, which questions the permissibility of applying national limitation period to the sanctions arising from the GDPR. The article employs several mutually complementary research methods, including the dogmatic-legal method, which involves analysing and interpretation of the content of applicable law, both EU and national, as well as the decisions of the President of the UODO and the case law of courts and tribunals. Additionally, the historical-legal method was used to show the evolution of the statute of limitations in administrative proceedings.

Keywords: limitation period; administrative penalty; President of the Polish Data Protection Authority; general data protection regulation; GDPR