PIBR publishes opinion on auditors irreproachable-reputation test

Statutory auditors (biegli rewidenci) can now consult a legal opinion on how the "nieposzlakowana opinia" (irreproachable reputation) condition is interpreted and appliedPibr. Polska Izba Biegłych Rewidentów published the opinion on 18 September 2026. The condition comes from Article 4(2)(2) of the 11 May 2017 Act on statutory auditors, audit firms and public supervisionPibr, and it matters not only at entry in the register but throughout practice, with its assessment able to affect an auditor's professional status directly.

The opinion sets out which events can matter for meeting the condition and which circumstances the assessing body must weigh, including how circumstances connected with criminal proceedings or with conduct outside professional life bear on it. It explains where the limits of such an assessment run, given that it can lead to far-reaching consequences for further practice.

A central point is the distinctness of "nieposzlakowana opinia" from the formal non-conviction condition: the concept cannot be reduced to formal non-conviction or to the mere fact of criminal proceedings against an auditorPibr, and the opinion analyses its relationship with criminal and disciplinary liability. Circumstances that are the subject of disciplinary proceedings should not be assessed in parallel or again as grounds for finding the loss of "nieposzlakowana opinia" — a point the opinion links to the guarantees attached to disciplinary liability and to the potential effects of both kinds of proceedings on the right to practise.

Particular weight is given to the standard of the assessing body: concrete factual findings and the evidence base, individualisation of the assessment, proportionality, and the reasoning of the decision. These matter precisely because an evaluative condition can directly affect further professional status. The analysis draws on the auditors' Act, European Union law and the Constitution of RP, and on case law concerning "nieposzlakowana opinia" for other professions of public trust as well as cases directly about statutory auditors and audit firms.

Legal basis: Article 4(2)(2) of the Act of 11 May 2017 on statutory auditors, audit firms and public supervision requires a candidate to have an irreproachable reputation and to vouch, by conduct to date, for proper practicePibr; the published opinion interprets and applies that condition.