The aim of this article is to verify the hypothesis that the legislature reasonably provided for the important interest of the service as the basis for dismissing an officer from the Police. Pursuant to Article 41, Section 2, Item 5 of the Police Act, a police officer may be dismissed from service when the important interest of the service so requires. This publication analyzes the concept of the important interest of the service, taking into account the goals and tasks of the Police and the specific status of its officers. The performance of tasks by the Police, which are cru­cial to the proper functioning of the state, undoubtedly requires that its officers be exclusively individuals with appropriate substantive qualifications and physically and mentally capable of serving in uniformed services. The article notes that any disciplinary offense can constitute grounds for dismissal of a police officer due to the impor­tant interest of the service. It also identifies the entities authorized to issue an order of dismissal on this basis and discusses its discretionary nature. The paper also analyzes the significance of the opinion of a company trade union regarding dismissal due to the important interest of the service and the special rights granted to a police officer dismissed from service for this reason. The analysis con­firmed the research hypothesis posed at the outset. The Police Act, therefore, correctly provides for a compelling service interest as a basis for dismissing an officer. Grant­ing a police officer’s superiors the authority to dismiss a police officer due to a compelling service interest un­doubtedly constitutes a significant manifestation of public interest protection and is essential for the proper perfor­mance of police duties.

The aim of the article is to verify the hypothesis that the institution of reinstatement to police service is a very important element of administrative and legal protection of all police officers in Poland. The service relationship, within the framework of which a police officer performs the activities entrusted to him by the state, is an administrative and legal relationship, the characteristic feature of which is the establishment by the legislator of a catalogue of reasons justifying the dismissal of a police officer from service. Reinstatement to service, on the other hand, is an institution that allows a dismissed police officer, in cases specified by the legislator, to return to service in the Police. This publication analyzes reinstatement to service and activities related to it, in particular the police officer's notification of readiness to take up service, determining the police officer's fitness to serve in the Police and issuing a personal order to appoint a police officer to the position. The work also determines the impact of reinstatement to service on the content of the police officer's service relationship, which is of significant importance from the point of view of the officer's rights. The analysis conducted allowed for the confirmation of the research hypothesis stated at the beginning. Reinstatement to police service is a very important manifestation of administrative and legal protection of all police officers in Poland. This institution constitutes an expression of their protection against the negative consequences resulting from dismissal from police service.

Scope of application of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons reporting breaches of law in the Union (OJ EU.L.2019.305.17), hereinafter referred to as: directive), significantly expands the group of entities that will be obliged to ensure functioning mechanisms for reporting identified irregularities. Following the Senate amendments, on 14 June 2024, the long-proceeded Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers was adopted (see Journal of Laws of 2024, item 928), the purpose of which is to protect persons reporting breaches of the law in the workplace. This Act, which is the implementation of the above-mentioned directive, is a significant step towards increasing transparency and compliance with the law in Polish public and private entities. The aim of the article is to present the concept and definition of a whistleblower, the systemic regulations contained in the directive, the protection of whistleblowers in the Polish legal system, and, above all, to attempt to answer the question of how an attorney at law should approach the obligation to report irregularities in their daily professional practice, taking into account the obligation to maintain professional secrecy. It should be pointed out that the essence of the profession of an attorney at law as a profession of public trust is associated with the obligation to maintain legal professional secrecy. It is one of the most important professional obligations of an attorney at law and the principles of ethics of this profession. The Code of Ethics for Attorneys at Law (hereinafter: KERP) clearly states that maintaining professional secrecy is the right and obligation of an attorney at law. The authors are of the opinion that the Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers should indicate all entities obliged to maintain professional secrecy, without evaluating them by type, including legal professional secrecy, or specify the numerus clausus of professions to which the provisions of the directive will not apply and which will not be entitled to report irregularities and take advantage of the protection provided by the measures provided for in the Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers.