The president vetoed Kamilek's Lex Kamilek bill. Why didn't Karol Nawrocki sign the amendment on child protection?

Contents

President Karol Nawrocki once again exercised his veto power. This time, he did not sign the amendment known as the Kamilek Act, or Lex Kamilek, which was intended to change the rules for vetting individuals working with children. Children's Rights Ombudsman Monika Horna-Cieślak warned that the proposed regulations could lower the standard of protection for minors and pose a real threat to their safety.

Karol Nawrocki's decision means that the current regulations remain in force, and the changes proposed by Kamilek's bill will not come into effect. As Zbigniew Bogucki, head of the Chancellery of the President, emphasized, there were many arguments against signing the amendment.

From the very beginning, the Ombudsman for Children has pointed out the far-reaching shortcomings of this act, to put it very euphemistically, and the diminishing protection of children's rights. The President disagrees and shares the Ombudsman's position on diminishing children's rights at the expense of eliminating certain administrative obstacles, primarily in the best interests of the child," explained Zbigniew Bogucki.

"Głos Nauczycielski" calculated that the veto against Lex Kamilek is the seventh refusal to sign the bill by the current president since the beginning of his term.

The most serious concerns about the amendment were raised by the Children's Rights Ombudsman, Monika Horna-Cieślak . She believed the proposed regulations could lead to serious threats.

The Act lowers the standard of protection of children in Poland against abuse, especially sexual abuse, and may expose children to exceptionally serious consequences for both their mental and physical health by introducing unjustified exceptions that allow for complete waiver of the obligations to verify criminal records or unjustifiably mitigate these obligations, warned the Ombudsman.

As it turns out, the Children's Rights Ombudsman was not alone in her criticism . Negative opinions were also issued by the State Commission for Counteracting the Sexual Abuse of Minors under 15 , the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland , the Kamil Mrozek "To ja – Dziecko" Foundation , and the Youth Council at the Parliamentary Committee for Youth .

All these entities raised the alarm about the risk of weakening the child protection system instead of strengthening it – which was the original goal of the so-called "Kamilek Act".

Read more about it here

See also:

The amendment, passed by Parliament on August 5, 2025, was intended to eliminate interpretational uncertainties and make life easier for schools and other institutions working with children. Kamilek's Act stipulated that in many situations, a declaration of no criminal record would suffice instead of a formal certificate from the National Criminal Register.

Schools would not have to re-screen coaches and guardians who had already been vetted by other institutions, such as sports clubs. The requirement to provide certificates would also be lifted for individuals in positions of public trust, such as police officers, lawyers, and judges.

The Kamilka Act was passed following the tragic death of an eight-year-old boy from Częstochowa, who was brutally abused by his stepfather. The original regulations imposed extensive criminal record checks on all adults interacting with children in educational, care, sports, or cultural settings.

The amendment was intended to simplify these rules, but it sparked heated debate about the line between administrative convenience and the actual safety of minors. The presidential veto means that the current regulations—more restrictive—remain in force, and any relaxation of the requirements will require new legislative initiative.