Disciplinary Board of First Instance:

Maria Bazan

Paweł Glita

Anna Kaczmarska-Pająk

Disciplinary Board of Second Instance:

Zuzanna Kasprzak

Marta Nowak

Agnieszka Sibila

Rules of Procedure of the Disciplinary Board of the Polish TFP Society adopted by the General Assembly

Rules of Procedure of the Disciplinary Board of the Polish TFP Society adopted by the General Assembly
§ 1. General provisions
1. The Rules of Procedure set out the detailed procedure and rules of operation of the Disciplinary Board of the Polish TFP Society (hereinafter: “Society”).
2. The Disciplinary Board operates on the basis of the Statute of the Polish TFP Society (hereinafter: “Statute”) and these Rules of Procedure.
§ 2. Composition
1. The Disciplinary Board is a two-instance court: The Disciplinary Board of First Instance and the Disciplinary Board of Appeals (hereinafter both together and separately, depending on the context: “Disciplinary Board” or “Board”).
2. The Disciplinary Board of First Instance, as a court of first instance, shall consist of at least three and no more than six members, who shall elect a President, a Vice-President and a Secretary from among themselves.
3. The Disciplinary Board of First Instance rules in its full panel.
4. The Disciplinary Board of Appeals as a court of second instance shall consist of at least three and no more than nine members, including the President, Vice-President and the Secretary.
5. The Disciplinary Board of Appeals rules in its full panel.
6. In the event of substantiated doubts as to impartiality or in the event of inability to perform the function entrusted to them, a member of the Disciplinary Board may be excluded from a case, either at the reasoned request of the party concerned or on their own initiative.
7. A member of the Disciplinary Board of Appeals may adjudicate in the proceedings of the First Instance if it is not possible to convene a panel of the Disciplinary Board of First Instance.
8. A member of the Disciplinary Board of Appeals may not rule on an appeal in cases in which they have ruled in the first instance.
9. Members of the Disciplinary Board may not hold office in other Society bodies or Society authorities.
10. Only a person with the status of an ordinary member may be a member of the Disciplinary Board.
11. The term of office of the Disciplinary Board is 3 years.
§ 3. Competence
1. The Disciplinary Board of First Instance resolves disputes between Society members and between Society members and Society authorities arising from their activities in the Society.
a. adjudicates the liability of the members in case of violation of the Statute, Rules of Procedure, resolutions of the authorities and the code of ethics or dignity of practising the profession of psychotherapist or acting to the detriment of the Society.
2. The Disciplinary Board of Appeals shall hear:
a. in the second instance (appeal) – complaints and appeals against decisions of the Disciplinary Board of the first instance;
b. motions for resumption of proceedings.
3. The Disciplinary Board shall not rule on matters for which the common courts of law or other state authorities have jurisdiction.
§ 4. General rules of conduct
1. The Disciplinary Board issues decisions on behalf of the Society.
2. The members of the Disciplinary Board shall be obliged to fulfil their duties conscientiously and diligently, guided in their activities by the Statute, the Rules of Procedure, the principles of social coexistence, respect for the law and the truth, and shall be obliged to perform their activities without undue delay, in compliance with the applicable deadlines, efficiently and accurately, in a manner that ensures the proper performance of the Board’s tasks.
3. Members of the Disciplinary Board and members of the Society appearing before the Board in the capacity of a proxy are obliged to keep confidential any information of which they become aware in connection with their tasks.
4. The Disciplinary Board, and the adjudicating panel on its behalf, shall ensure that, in the course of the proceedings, the participants are not prejudiced by their ignorance of the rules of procedure and, to this end, shall provide them with the necessary information and explanations.
5. Members of the panel are required to maintain the solemnity of the Board.
6. The Disciplinary Board is independent in its proceedings.
7. The Disciplinary Board shall make its decisions on the basis of an objective and free evaluation of the totality of the material in the case file and of the evidence provided by the parties, and after clarifying all the circumstances relating to the case.
8. The processing of cases shall be carried out in accordance with the following principles:
a. the presumption of innocence;
b. adversariality;
c. objectivity (impartiality);
d. material truth;
e. the right to defend oneself.
§ 5. Internal organisation
1. The Disciplinary Board has the right to use a circular seal with the inscription: “Polish TFP Society – Disciplinary Board” and a header stamp with the same inscription and address. The seal is not required for the validity of documents drawn up by the Disciplinary Board.
2. The premises where the hearings are held should meet the requirements necessary to preserve the solemnity of the Board. There should be separate seats for the panel, the defendant and their defence lawyers, the victim and their proxies, as well as seats for witnesses and other participants in the proceedings.
3. The venue for the proceedings and meetings is the city of Krakow.
4. When, due to applicable legal Rules of Procedure or obstacles of a factual nature, it is not possible to hold a meeting with the personal participation of the members of the composition, the parties or the participants, the meetings may be held via the official ZOOM platform of the Society.
§ 6. Rulings
1. The proceedings of the Disciplinary Board shall end with the issuing of a decision or an order discontinuing the proceedings.
2. The Disciplinary Board shall reject the application or complaint by order if it concerns a person who is not a member of the Society.
3. The Disciplinary Board shall not initiate proceedings, and shall discontinue proceedings that have been initiated, if:
a. the infringement has not been committed or there are no sufficient grounds for suspecting it;
b. the statute of limitations has run out;
c. liability proceedings involving the same infringement by the same person have been concluded with res judicata or are pending;
d. one of the parties lacks legal capacity and no legal representative or proxy is acting for them;
e. the applicant withdrew the appeal;
f. the dispute referred to in § 3 sec. 1(a) has been terminated before the ruling was given.
4. When issuing a ruling, the Disciplinary Board may:
a. acquit the defendant;
b. impose one of the penalties referred to in section 8 if it finds the defendant guilty of the offence charged;
c. settle the dispute as referred to in § 3 sec. 1(a).
5. The Disciplinary Board shall not institute proceedings for the liability of a member within the scope of § 3, section 1(b), if three years have elapsed since the act was committed (statute of limitations).
6. The Disciplinary Board may pronounce the following penalties:
a. admonition;
b. reprimand;
c. suspension from membership in the Society for a period of 1 to 12 months, Suspension of membership means suspension of active and passive electoral rights, suspension of certificates, recommendations, licences, powers granted by the Society;
d. exclusion from the Society,
e. revocation (withdrawal) of the TFP psychotherapist certificate;
f. revocation (withdrawal) of the TFP supervisor certificate.
7. The Disciplinary Board may also impose the publication of the final decision on the Society’s website as an additional penalty.
8. The Disciplinary Board shall impose a penalty taking into account the degree of guilt, the harmfulness of the act and its consequences and the conduct of the offender before and after the offence was committed.
9. In the event of simultaneous punishment for several offences, the Disciplinary Board shall impose penalties for the individual offences and then impose one cumulative penalty for all offences.
10. Penalties validly imposed by the Disciplinary Board shall be erased on expiry of:
a. 6 months – in the case of an admonition;
b. 1 year – in the case of a reprimand;
c. the period of suspension – in the case of suspension from the Society.
11. A member of the Society against whom a penalty of expulsion from the Society has been pronounced may, after a period of 5 years from that becoming final, apply for re-enrolment in the list of members.
12. The running of the penalty shall commence on the date on which the decision becomes final.
§ 7. First meeting
1. The first meetings of the newly-elected composition of the Disciplinary Board of First Instance and the Disciplinary Board of Appeals shall be convened by the President of the Society within 30 days of their election.
2. At the first meetings, the members of the Boards shall elect the Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Secretaries.
3. The Presidents preside over the work of the Disciplinary Board of First Instance and the Disciplinary Board of Appeals respectively and represent these Boards externally
§ 8. Tasks of the Presidents
1. The Presidents shall take steps to ensure the smooth functioning of the Board and, in particular, to:
a. familiarise themselves with each case coming before the Board and set dates for hearings;
b. ensure that the members of the Board are prepared for their work in the adjudicating panel;
c. convene meetings for training purposes and to discuss organisational matters;
d. ascertain the validity of the decisions and issue appropriate orders for their enforcement;
e. respond to letters received by the Board and sign outgoing letters;
f. supervise the organisation and work of the office of the Board;
g. ensure the proper and timely work of the office of the Board;
h. determine the person or entity harmed in the case by order.
2. For the functioning of the Board, the President is the superior of the members of the Board and the supervisor for the staff of its office.
3. In the absence of the President of the Board, the Vice-President of the Board shall perform their functions.
§ 9. Written form: order of business
1. Proceedings before the Disciplinary Board shall, in principle, be conducted in writing. The parties shall submit their explanations in writing.
2. All service of official letters during the proceedings shall be made in writing, to the postal address of the parties or other persons concerned (witnesses, experts).
3. Cases are heard in the order in which they are received.
4. The President may, in cases of urgency and other particularly justified cases, order that a particular case or cases of a particular nature be dealt with out of turn according to the time indicated by the receipt of the case.
5. Communication between the Board and a party or other interested person concerning organisational matters may also take place by telephone or by means of a computer and information system, provided that the person concerned has consented to this.
6. All pleadings (in particular a complaint, a request for a hearing, a grievance, an appeal, an application for the resumption of proceedings) in the course of proceedings shall be submitted to the Disciplinary Board in writing and shall contain:
a. date and place of drafting;
b. identification of the parties (first and last name, address), and of their proxies or counsels, if any;
c. a description of the facts indicating that the member has violated the provisions of the Society’s statute, resolutions, rules of procedure or rules of ethics, together with a justification and, if possible, citing evidence proving that the alleged acts have been committed;
d. the handwritten signature of the party or the party’s counsel or proxy;
e. a list of possible attachments.
7. Letters shall be sent by post to the address of the seat of the Disciplinary Board in a single consignment with any attachments. The Board shall not take into account documents sent or lodged in any other form or documents relating to a case sent in separate mailings. Any new evidence relating to the case that was not sent with the application should be presented at the hearing, subject to § 13 sec. 5. The President of the hearing decides whether, when new evidence is presented, the hearing can be continued or whether another hearing date needs to be set.
8. A copy of the letter shall be forwarded to the other parties to the proceedings by registered post (postage prepaid and delivered against receipt). The parties to the proceedings, counsels and proxies are required to notify the Board of any change of their correspondence address, under pain that service on the previous address is deemed to be effective.
9. Any action taken after the expiry of the period specified in the Rules of Procedure shall be ineffective.
10. Handing in a letter at a Polish postal outlet of an operator providing universal postal services in the territory of the Republic of Poland or at a foreign postal outlet of an operator providing universal postal services in the territory of another Member State of the European Union shall be tantamount to lodging it with the Board.
11. After receipt of a response, the Board shall convene a closed session at which the President of the panel shall be determined.
12. The President of the panel shall make a password-protected electronic copy of the dossier and send the dossier to the email addresses assigned to each member of the panel. Sending documentation to the private email addresses of members of the Board or to make additional copies of documentation is not permitted. At the end of the proceedings, all electronic correspondence should be destroyed and a hard copy of the file should go to the archives of the Disciplinary Board, located at the Society’s seat.
13. The President of the adjudicating panel shall set a date for the hearing, which shall be communicated to the parties by registered post or by electronic means if the parties have so agreed.
§ 10. Exclusion of a member
1. Within 7 working days of receiving notice of the hearing, the Parties shall have the right to submit a substantiated request for the exclusion of a named member of the Disciplinary Board from the proceedings.
2. A member of the Disciplinary Board shall be excluded from participation in the proceedings if:
a. he or she is a party to the proceedings or has such a legal relationship with one of the parties that the outcome of the case affects their rights or obligations;
b. the proceedings concern the case of their spouse, a relative or affinity in the direct line, a collateral relative up to the fourth degree or a collateral relative up to the second degree;
c. the proceedings involve persons related to them by adoption, custody or guardianship;
d. the proceedings relate to a case in which they were or still are a proxy;
e. the proceedings relate to a case in which they were involved at a lower instance in the decision under appeal.
3. A party may only request once that a member of the Board be excluded from a case.
4. The exclusion of a member from the adjudicating panel shall be decided by an absolute majority of the Disciplinary Board of First Instance or the Disciplinary Board of Appeals, respectively.
5. If the application for exclusion is found to be justified, the President of the Board shall establish a new composition and a new date for the hearing, of which they shall inform the parties in writing by registered letter.
6. If the application is found to be unjustified, the President of the Board shall set a new date for the hearing.
§ 11. Parties
1. The parties to the proceedings are:
a. the applicant or claimant;
b. the accused or party to the dispute referred to in § 3 sec. 1(a).
The accused may appoint another member of the Society as defence counsel, attorney or solicitor. A party other than the accused may appoint designated persons as a proxy.
§ 12. Openness of the hearing
1. The hearing is held in public.
2. The President of the Board may exclude the hearing from public view if publicity would:
a. violate professional secrecy;
b. cause a disturbance of the peace or public order;
c. offend against good morals;
d. disclose circumstances which, due to the important interest of the Society, should be kept secret;
e. violate an important private interest.
3. Exclusion of the public shall take place at the request of a party to the proceedings or of their own motion by order of the President of the Board.
§ 13. Detailed rules of procedure
1. The President of the panel shall open, preside and close the hearing, give the floor, put questions, authorise questions and announce decisions.
2. Minutes shall be drawn up of the proceedings of the Disciplinary Board. The minutes shall be drawn up by a member of the Board or by another person not connected with the case who is a member of the Society. The course of the hearing may additionally be recorded by means of an audio recording device after obtaining the written consent of all those present.
3. If necessary, the Disciplinary Board in the course of evidence proceedings may appoint an expert or consult other bodies of the Society.
4. The parties and their proxies shall have the right to inspect the case file at the seat of the Board and to take notes for their own use. It is not possible to share documentation in electronic form or to make copies of documentation in the form of photocopies or electronic documents (photos, scans, etc.)
5. The parties have the right to request the examination of witnesses or the appointment of experts up to 14 days before the date set for the hearing. Compliance with the time limit is determined by the date on which the application is received by the Board.
6. Before giving evidence, the witness should provide their personal details and be instructed to testify truthfully.
7. A spouse or person in a common relationship with a party, parents, children, grandchildren and siblings of a party may refuse to give evidence.
8. A witness may refuse to answer questions if doing so could expose them or their relatives to criminal liability or seriously compromise their personal dignity.
9. The adjudicating panel may refrain from reading out the statements of witnesses made before the hearing if it considers it unnecessary or impossible to hear them.
10. The President of the panel shall determine the order in which witnesses are heard.
11. Witnesses who have not yet given evidence may not be present when other witnesses are questioned.
12. The resignation from membership of a person affected by the proceedings of the Disciplinary Board shall not result in the inability to continue with the case.
13. Each party shall bear its own costs of participating in the proceedings.
14. Appearance at the hearing is voluntary. A party’s failure to appear at a hearing does not suspend the examination of the case and the issuing of a decision.
§ 14. Course of the proceedings
1. Proceedings before the Disciplinary Board, in both instances, should take the following course:
a. the opening of the hearing by the President of the Board adjudicating panel elected from among its members at a closed session before the hearing;
b. giving the floor to the claimant or applicant;
c. examination of witnesses of the claimant or of the applicant;
d. giving the accused or a party to the dispute the floor;
e. examination of witnesses of the accused or a party to the dispute;
f. allowing questions to be put to the parties by the Board adjudicating panel, other parties and proxies;
g. final statements by the parties.
2. After hearing the final statements of the parties, the President of the Board adjudicating panel shall close the hearing and, after secret deliberation with the adjudicating panel, shall announce the operative part of the decision. After the operative part of the decision has been declared, the President of the adjudicating panel may state the principal reasons for the decision. In a case of particular complexity, the adjudicating panel may postpone the pronouncement of the operative part of the decision for a period of not more than 14 days.
3. The operative part of the decision shall be signed by all members of the panel. The statement of reasons for the decision, copies of the settlement agreement and judgement and the order shall be signed by the President of the Board.
4. The operative part of the judgement should include:
a. the date on which the case was heard and the judgement was issued;
b. the names of the members of the adjudicating panel and the clerk, if the function was performed by a person from outside the adjudicating panel;
c. the first and last names of the parties, their affiliation to the Society;
d. a precise statement of the subject matter;
e. the decision of the Board;
f. a ruling as to the costs of the proceedings;
g. signatures of the members of the adjudication panel.
5. The Disciplinary Board is obliged to draw up a written statement of reasons for its decision within no more than 30 working days of the announcement of the operative part of the decision and to send it to the parties by registered post within the following 7 working days. In justified cases, the President may extend this period for a further 14 working days, after informing the parties.
6. The decision of the Disciplinary Board shall be enforceable upon becoming final.
7. The Chair of the Disciplinary Board, whose decision has become final, shall send a copy of the decision to the Executive Board for appropriate entries to be made in the records or to be removed from the list of members of the Society in the event of an exclusion penalty being imposed.
8. The files of cases terminated by a final decision shall be retained for a period of 6 years after the decision becomes final, after which they shall be destroyed by means of a protocol. The destruction certificate is forwarded to the Society’s archives. The place where the files are stored shall be indicated and secured by the Executive Board, respecting the principle of confidentiality and in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR. The Presidents of the Board have access to the file.
9. The files of discontinued proceedings shall be destroyed as soon as the decision to discontinue the proceedings has become final. The destruction certificate is forwarded to the Society’s archives. The place where the files are stored shall be indicated and secured by the Executive Board, respecting the principle of confidentiality and in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR. The Presidents of the Board have access to the file.
§ 15. Conduct of proceedings in the first instance
1. The Disciplinary Board of First Instance initiates proceedings on the basis of a request from a member of the Society, a representative of one of the Society’s authorities, or a justified complaint.
2. A complaint or application to the Disciplinary Board of First Instance shall be submitted in writing in 2 copies to the mailing address of the Disciplinary Board or by e-mail to the e-mail address of the Disciplinary Board of First Instance. An electronically recorded complaint or request shall be submitted in the form of a scanned document signed in person by the authorised person.
3. If a complaint or an application cannot be properly dealt with as a result of a failure to observe the formal conditions, the President of the Disciplinary Board of First Instance shall call upon the party concerned to remedy the deficiencies of the complaint or application within seven days of receipt of the summons, on pain of return. Upon the ineffective expiry of the time limit, the President shall order the return of the letter. A letter returned has no effect.
4. If the complaint or application has no deficiencies, or after the deficiencies have been corrected, the President of the Disciplinary Board of First Instance:
a. notifies the person or one of the authorities of the Society to whom the application or complaint relates of the commencement of the proceedings, sends a copy of the application or complaint and its attachments, and sets a period of 14 days for the person or one of the authorities of the Society to reply in writing in 2 copies and sends it to the Disciplinary Board of First Instance;
b. determines the composition of the Disciplinary Board of First Instance and sets the date of the hearing, of which the parties and their proxies, if any, shall be notified.
5. The President of the Board shall order that the necessary documents be placed on the file, that witnesses and experts be summoned to the hearing, and that other evidence indicated in the application or application or submitted by the parties before the hearing be produced.
6. The President of the Board shall, before proceeding to hear the case, propose a settlement to the parties.
7. If no settlement is reached, a hearing shall be held.
8. In closed session, the Board shall take a decision:
a. to initiate the proceedings;
b. to discontinue the proceedings;
c. to suspend the proceedings.
9. The Board may order a stay of proceedings if there is a prolonged obstacle preventing the proceedings from taking place.
10. A copy of the decision to discontinue the proceedings and to stay the proceedings shall be served on the parties, together with instructions on the right, time limit and procedure for lodging a complaint against that decision.
11. Copies of the first-instance decision – once a statement of reasons has been drawn up – are served on the parties, together with instructions on their right of appeal.
12. A decision becomes final if the parties:
a. have not lodged a complaint or appeal in accordance with the Rules of Procedure;
b. have withdrawn their appeal against the decision of the Board of first instance or, after the expiry of the time-limit set for remedying defects, have failed to remedy those defects.
§ 16. Appeal proceedings
1. The decision of the Disciplinary Board of First Instance may be appealed by the parties to the Disciplinary Board of Appeals.
2. The appeal shall be lodged with the President of the Disciplinary Appeal Board within 30 working days of receipt of the decision and the reasons for it.
3. The appeal shall be submitted in writing in 2 copies to the mailing address of the Disciplinary Board or by e-mail to the e-mail address of the Disciplinary Board of Appeals. Section 15 item 2 sentence 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
4. If an appeal is lodged against a decision of the Disciplinary Board of First Instance, the President of the Disciplinary Board of Appeals shall check whether the time limit for lodging the appeal has been complied with and whether the formal conditions for the letter have been met. If the appeal has been lodged out of time and there is no request for the missed deadline to be restored, the President shall reject the appeal by order in closed session. The President’s decision is final.
5. Where an appeal cannot properly proceed due to non-compliance with formal conditions, § 15 section 3 shall apply accordingly.
6. If the appeal has no deficiencies or if the appeal has been completed, the President of the Disciplinary Board of Appeals shall request that the case file be referred to the President of the Disciplinary Board of First Instance.
7. Once the file has been obtained, the President of the Disciplinary Appeal Board shall determine the composition of the Board, set a date for the hearing, of which he shall notify the parties and the proxies, if appointed.
8. The President of the Disciplinary Board of Appeals shall notify the accused of the initiation of the proceedings, enclosing a copy of the appeal and its annexes, and shall set a 14-day time limit for responding in writing in 2 copies and sending it to the Disciplinary Board of Appeals.
9. The appeal may be withdrawn at the latest before the appeal hearing begins. Withdrawal of an appeal by a party shall be made in writing and shall entail that the decision of the first instance becomes final.
10. Section 14 shall apply mutatis mutandis in appeal proceedings. The first vote shall be given to the party who filed the complaint or application at first instance, followed by the accused or a party to the dispute.
11. At the conclusion of the appeal hearing, the Board of Appeals shall decide to uphold, amend or set aside the contested decision in whole or in part. The Board of First Instance amends the contested decision by ruling differently on the merits or repeals it and discontinues the proceedings.
12. An aggravation of the sentence imposed in the first instance may only take place if an appeal against the decision is lodged by the person making the complaint or request.
§ 17. Appeal

1. Decisions to discontinue or stay proceedings made by the Disciplinary Board of First Instance may be appealed by the parties to the Disciplinary Board of Appeals
2. The provisions on appeal shall apply mutatis mutandis to the proceedings following the complaint.
§ 18. Resumption of proceedings
1. Proceedings terminated by a final decision may be resumed if it turns out that the decision was issued on the basis of a false witness statement, a forged document, or if new facts and evidence that may have a significant impact on the content of the issued decision come to light after the decision was issued.
2. An application for the resumption of proceedings may be made by:
a. the penalised party;
b. the person making the complaint or request;
c. the Executive Board.
3. An application to the detriment of the penalised person is inadmissible in the event of their death.
4. The application should be submitted within 30 days of the date on which the entitled person became aware of the reason justifying the resumption of the proceedings.
5. The application for reopening of the proceedings shall be submitted to the President of the Disciplinary Board of Appeals.
6. The application for resumption shall be considered in closed session of the Disciplinary Board of Appeals.
7. Upon granting the application for resumption of the proceedings, the Disciplinary Board of Appeals shall issue an order by which, after reviewing the case, it shall either set aside the previous decision or refer the case back to the Disciplinary Board of First Instance for reconsideration.
§ 19. Compensation for expenses incurred
1. The work of the members of the Disciplinary Board is of a community nature and is not remunerated.
2. Members of the Disciplinary Board who, in the context of the proceedings, are obliged to travel shall be entitled to compensation for their expenses, up to the amount shown on the accounting documents submitted. Compensation shall be made by the Executive Board of the Society at the substantiated request of a member of the Board.
§ 20. Activity Report
Once a year, the Disciplinary Boards present reports on their activities to the General Assembly. Prior to the holding of the General Assembly, the reports should be sent to the Executive Board, within the deadline set by the President of the Executive Board.
§ 21. Final provisions
1. The Rules of Procedure of the Disciplinary Board shall enter into force upon their adoption by the General Assembly.