This paper presents the tasks and powers of the law enforcement authorities in Poland in the area of combating terrorism from a legal perspective. Despite the vast amount of literature on this subject, this topic is still interesting, in particular due to the lack of comprehensive yet concise works presenting the tasks of the abovementioned authorities from the perspective of four phases of antiterrorist activities. These phases consist of both actions of preventive nature, coordinated by the Head of the Internal Security Agency (ABW), and actions carried out to take control of terrorist incidents, ensure response and restore the resources necessary to take control of such incidents, coordinated by the Minister of the Interior and Administration. The problems referred to above are presented from the perspective of the Polish system of combating terrorism. This paper analyses both its institutional scope, by indicating the authorities forming part of the system, and its material scope, by characterising procedures of anti-terrorist actions according to which the competent authorities carry out their tasks. This paper attempts to analyse these issues comprehensively and briefly. Furthermore, the considerations are supported by an empirical study of experiences accumulated since the Act of 10 June 2016 on anti-terrorist activities came into force.

This paper presents the tasks and powers of the law enforcement authorities in Poland in the area of combating terrorism from a legal perspective. Despite the vast amount of literature on this subject, this topic is still interesting, in particular due to the lack of comprehensive yet concise works presenting the tasks of the abovementioned authorities from the perspective of four phases of antiterrorist activities. These phases consist of both actions of preventive nature, coordinated by the Head of the Internal Security Agency (ABW), and actions carried out to take control of terrorist incidents, ensure response and restore the resources necessary to take control of such incidents, coordinated by the Minister of the Interior and Administration. The problems referred to above are presented from the perspective of the Polish system of combating terrorism. This paper analyses both its institutional scope, by indicating the authorities forming part of the system, and its material scope, by characterising procedures of anti-terrorist actions according to which the competent authorities carry out their tasks. This paper attempts to analyse these issues comprehensively and briefly. Furthermore, the considerations are supported by an empirical study of experiences accumulated since the Act of 10 June 2016 on anti-terrorist activities came into force.