Have you ever wondered if you can keep the found item with no fear? Or maybe we should give back only valuable items? 

Imagine such a situation - we find the mobile phone on the street, it seems to us, that since we found it we can keep it and use it without any consequences. After certain time police knock on our door. The person who lost the phone, reported it and we are ordered out to the police station to give an explanation how did we come into possession of that thing. 

What are we threatened with? 

We can be accused of converting the found item. This offence carries a penalty of fine, restriction of liberty or the imprisonment up to 1 year (art. 284 § 4 Polish Penal Code). 

In spite of the fact that we didn't report it to the police or the appropriate institution we can free ourselves of the responsibility provided that we tried to find the owner of things by placing an advertisement in public places or in the Internet. 

Under the new regulations, we have a duty to notify the district administrator about the found thing (Journal of Laws 2015 pos. 397). An exception to rule is a situation when we find the given thing in the public building or on the means of communication such as the bus or the train, then we should give the lost item back to the administrator of the building or the transport company. 

It is a curiosity that if the thing is worth less than 100 PLN, the clerks will be able to refuse to take it for storing (except for the thing with the historical, scientific or artistic value). In case of the refusal of acceptance of the thing by the competent district administrator, the finder or the competent administrator can do as they choose with the found thing. 

Remember, in case of finding the item or the animal we have to try to give it back to the owner. We encourage to post notices about found and lost things on lost24 portal.