The ABW can, on order from a court of law or a public prosecutor’s office, carry out acts in proceedings specified in the Code of Criminal Procedure or the Punishment Execution Code.

While carrying out their duties ABW officers may, among other things, carry out the following acts within the limits of existing legal provisions:

Order specific behaviour of individuals
Require individuals to produce their ID or give their personal details
Arrest individuals
Search individuals and premises
Carry out body searches
Inspect the contents of luggage as well as cargo in land, air and water transport
Require help from government institutions, government and self-government administration bodies as well as entrepreneurs doing business in the Public Utilities Services sector
Request indispensable help from other (...) entrepreneurs, entities and public organisations, and to request any person, in situations of utmost urgency and within the limits of binding legal regulations, for immediately needed assistance.
ABW officers are empowered to use firearms only in situations defined in detail by law.

In carrying out some investigative powers such as arresting dangerous criminals, e.g. armed ones, it is necessary to use special support forces. The ABW has its own, specialised anti-terrorist team whose tasks include, among other things, making sure that arrests are made safely in the course of investigations run by the Agency.

In order to gather evidential material for the court, it is often necessary to use sophisticated scientific expertise in many fields. The ABW comprises in its organisational structure a special unit – the Forensic Laboratory, where specialists in various branches of science carry out examinations and give expert opinions on evidence obtained in proceedings.

The ABW operational and investigative powers are subject to supervision by various democratic institutions ranging from the President of the RP to the Parliament of the RP to the Constitutional Tribunal to the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection.
The ABW can, on order from a court of law or a public prosecutor’s office, carry out acts in proceedings specified in the Code of Criminal Procedure or the Punishment Execution Code.