In Poland, refusal to disclose recidivism risk algorithm challenged — RMF24

In Poland, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has challenged in an administrative court the Ministry of Justice’s refusal to provide data on how a system for assessing the risk of recidivism among prisoners works. As RMF24 reports, the system may affect decisions on allowing a convicted person to temporarily leave a penal institution or on their conditional early release.

Automated report for assessing convicted persons

The system in question is the Advanced Recidivism Risk Assessment System, or PSORR. According to Rzeczpospolita, the program automatically generates a report intended to make the criminological-social forecast more objective; previously, this forecast was prepared by a prison educator. Deputy Minister of Justice Maria Eichart described the decision as a “leap into the future” after its implementation.

At the same time, experts interviewed by Rzeczpospolita pointed to the system’s insufficient transparency. Marcin Wolny, a representative of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, stated that a tool capable of affecting a convicted person’s situation must be data-based, tested and regularly evaluated, and its results must be available for verification.

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Request for code and assessment criteria

In December 2025, the foundation asked Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek to provide the PSORR source code, a list of factors considered by the program, their weights, and expert opinions used in developing the system. The ministry refused, after which the foundation filed a complaint with an administrative court.

Tomasz Guminiak, head of the Fourth Penitentiary Division of the District Court in Opole, stated that the system’s report is not binding on the court and should be assessed critically. He noted cases in which the system gave a negative forecast while the director of a penal institution issued a positive opinion. Katowice-based lawyer Monika Gorzonych also questioned the recidivism risk assessment scale from 20% to 100%, stating that she works with prisoners for whom, in her view, the risk of reoffending is zero.