At the beginning of February 2023, the Council of Europe Committee on Artificial Intelligence published the “zero” draft Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law. The document is dated 6 January, 2023, and is the Council of Europe’s preliminary proposal for the AI future regulatory framework.

Recently, the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) pointed out that 23 February is Nationwide Bribe-Free Day. Corruption is one of the biggest threats to the economy, and hampers economic growth, disrupts business, and decreases society’s income. Corruption is usually associated with the taking of a bribe by a public official, and these are the scandals that attract attention. Meanwhile, corruption in business draws less attention, and this is unfortunate. 

Politicians in government circles have recently proposed a bill amending the Broadcasting Act, dubbed publicly the  “Lex Pilot”. The reason for this is that the Polish government wishes to decide by itself, and impose without consulting market players, the positioning of certain channels on the EPG in each television operator. Interestingly, the channels given priority would be solely the channels of the public (state) broadcaster  (TVP).

Computer system implementation using the agile methodology was intended to remedy the problems typically experienced with projects conducted using the waterfall approach, where the time and costs of implementation are ill-judged, often making it necessary to repeatedly conclude annexes to an agreement or litigate with regard to the scope of work assigned and late delivery.

The amendment to the Wind Farm Construction Project Act, now adopted by the Sejm, repeals to some extent the 10 H rule, which was introduced in 2016. This rule placed substantial restrictions on development in Poland of onshore wind farm construction projects.

As a part of the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, the European Commission (EC) announced that it would launch a package revising the general pharmaceutical legislation, as well as the regulations on orphan medicinal products and paediatric medicines.

On 10 February, 2023, the Act of 1 December, 2022, on the Financial Information System (FIS) came into force. The Act implements three EU directives, including the directive known as 5AMLD.

The latest enforcement activities of the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) have proven yet again that UOKiK does not shy away from investigating and bringing charges against the major market players. Last month, the authority announced it was bringing charges against Amazon EU SARL.

New rules on working remotely will take effect as of 7 April, 2023. Employers that wish their employees to work remotely (hybrid form) need to begin drawing up the relevant documentation now.

In the intense debate over the growth of artificial intelligence (AI), the system most talked about recently is ChatGPT. Until recently, the technology used in ChatGPT was considered an interesting fact, while now it has suddenly and spectacularly become part of daily life – and commerce as well.