The New Year for Polish Metal Detectorists

Let us start by saying one has a choice whether on a particular day to go out or not go out artefact hunting illegally. Some people would avoid doing so. Also there is no rule mandating that one MUST have their metal detecting hobby facilitated by anyone. Having sorted that out, meet a smirking bobble-hatted Polish tekkie, Mr Piotr from the governing body of the Polish Explorers [metal detectorists etc.] Association [PZE] :

.

posted on You tube by Polski Związek Eksploratorów31.12.2023

.

He eckons that 2023 was the "best" year for the PZE and its members. Why?

" Projekt ustawy trafił do Sejmu, finalnie zostal przegłosowany, a na koniec, Pan Prezydent go popisał. Ustawa wchodzi w życie w 2024 w maju. Pamiętajcie że nic raz dany nie trwa na wieki, przez nami ostatnie prosta, wdrożenie ustawy w życiu.

[The bill was submitted to the Sejm, was finally considered, and finally, the President signed it. The act enters into force in May 2024. Remember that once given, nothing lasts forever, the last step is to implement the law]".

Still smirking, he invites viewers to sign up to the PZE. What he did not mention is that the old team of the outgoing government who ran the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as far as the information I have goes were so busy with other things in their last weeks of power that the tenders were not sent out for the construction of the application at the centre of this new legislation - let alone creating conditions to finance it. The new team in the Ministry has immediately been attacked by the (now) opposition about its attempts to sort out the mess left by the former regime of the state TV service. The opposition seek the Minister's dismissal. So conditions are not idea for the application to be created.

So, I do not see what Polish metal detectorists have to be happy about... or be grateful to the PZE that it got them into the situation that to go out into the field without using the mobile application first to register the search is illegal - but the application will not be available until several months later into the detecting season. So to stay legal, they'll all have to just stay home. 

It seems to me to place 30 000 Polish artefact hunters and collectors in a rather uncomfortable situation in 2024.

Ref: Barford 'An App, a Map, and a Reward: Promoting and Enabling Artefact Hunting in Poland' the European Archaeologist 78 Oct 2023.