There are proceedings regarding the transfer of State Treasury real estate to the Academy of Justice. The case is being handled by the District Prosecutor's Office in Ostrów Wielkopolski. A notification in this regard was submitted by the Central Board of the Prison Service. The case concerns the university, which was established in 2018 under the regulation of Minister Zbigniew Ziobro.
In November, the District Prosecutor's Office in Ostrów Wielkopolski initiated proceedings regarding the transfer of four properties belonging to the State Treasury to the Academy of Justice, which were under the permanent management of the Prison Service – the journalist of “Black and white” learned.
The Central Board of the Prison Service reported the possibility of committing a crime. It concerns the transfer of real estate in Zakopane and Warsaw. The speech includes: about the former Złoty Róg guesthouse in Zakopane and the tenement house in Mokotów at ul. Wiśniowa.
“The Director General of the Prison Service reported crimes related to the transfer of real estate from other units of the Prison Service to the Academy. The District Prosecutor's Office in Ostrów Wielkopolski initiated an investigation into the failure to fulfill duties by officers,” the Ministry of Justice announced on Friday in a statement summarizing irregularities in the functioning of the Academy of Justice.
The case of the Academy of Justice was dealt with by Kacper Sulowski from “Black and white” TVN24. He talked about the university's activities and the growing doubts surrounding it in his reports “Ziobro's school – an estate” and “Ziobro's School – staff”.
Former Złoty Róg guesthouse in Zakopane Black on white
Transfer of real estate
The possibility of transferring real estate to the Academy of Justice appeared with the Act of July 22, 2022. It included a provision that “the Minister of Justice, implementing the arrangements contained in the act of establishing the University of Prison Service, may equip the university with real estate from the resources of the State Treasury at the disposal of the Minister of Justice or an organizational unit supervised by him.”
The editorial team of “Czarno na bibie” carefully followed the ministry's activities in this regard. It turned out that Minister Zbigniew Ziobro was to take advantage of the provisions of the act a few months later. In December 2022, he issued an order listing a number of properties managed by the prison system. Pursuant to this order, the university received the facilities. Not in management, but in ownership.
According to the provisions of the Real Estate Management Act, the minister could terminate the permanent management of the real estate of a dependent entity, but one condition had to be met. The manager had to admit that he no longer needed the property. One of the “Black and White” interlocutors claims that the then management of the Prison Service pressed the district inspectorates to say that they did not need the real estate under their management.
As “Black and white” found out, the minister's orders on the transfer of State Treasury property to the academy contain the signatures of Marcin Romanowski, the then deputy minister of justice. Kacper Sulowski asked Romanowski why he signed the documents transferring the property to the academy.
– I do not agree with the thesis about the removal of property. These were legal actions aimed at equipping the university – replied the deputy minister.
Further properties – including a plot of land with a house in Podlasie and a tenement house at Wiśniowa Street in Warsaw – were transferred to the university on October 30, 2023.
Academy of Justice
In 2018, Minister Zbigniew Ziobro established the College of Criminology and Penitentiary Studies in Warsaw. Students, some staff and infrastructure were obtained from the Central Prison Service Center in Kalisz, which was closed by the minister's decision.
The statutory goal of the university is to educate and educate Prison Service officers, officers of other services and civilians.
In 2023, an act on changing the name of the public service university supervised by the Minister of Justice to the Academy of Justice entered into force.
“In 2021, the university expanded the scope of its activities to include, in addition to educating Prison Service officers, also educating future staff of justice administration bodies and other services performing tasks in the field of public security,” it was reported on this website.
Black and white, TVN24, PAP
Main photo source: Black on white