The Impact of Human Dignity on the Principles of Criminal Liability. The Example of Guilt

Human dignity is a well-known concept among Western countries since after World War II, when states, in an effort to create a new platform of cooperation with a view to guaranteeing peace, were looking for an axiological foundation of the new order. The findings described in the article may serve to underpin the following notions, which have to be the object of further research on relations between the human dignity principle and rules of criminal liability, guilt in particular. First, the “guilt standard” is obligatory, whenever a state intends to punish a person. Second, punishment can be meted out only to an offender with an ability to bear responsibility. In other words, only a person whose characteristic derived from the principle of dignity is fully actualized can be punished. Third, punishing should be preceded by an analysis of the degree of guilt. The more eager the perpetrator was to act against the legal system and against the values protected by it, the severer punishment should be meted out. Finally, law should provide for exclusion of culpability when the human dignity principle demands one to act in a manner that is outwardly criminal, but was committed due to a motivation that ought to be excused in the light of the dignity principle

The Practice of Making an Interpretation in a Constitutional Context. The Example of Stalking

When introducing a new type of criminal offence, i.e making the decision to criminalize something or to modify the present regulations, the lawmaker is obliged to take into account the constitutional context. In consequence, it means that the lawmaker must indicate the values, colliding with themselves, related to the planned regulation. Next, keeping the rule of proportionality in mind, the norm should be made in such a way that corresponds to and fits to the system of values expressed in the Constitution of Poland. The aim of this article is to show the practical aspect of proconstitutional interpretation in Polish criminal law based on the example of a new type of criminal offence that is on the example of stalking

Interpretation of Goods Protected in the Polish Criminal Law in the Constitutional Context

Celem przyświecającym poszukiwaniom towarzyszącym pisaniu omawianej pracy doktorskiej było znalezienie metody takiego konstruowania prawa karnego i prowadzenia jego wykładni, aby osoby poddane tej regulacji, nawet bez zrozumienia poszczególnych konstrukcji w nim zawartych, odwołując się do znanych im, przyswojonych w procesie socjalizacji wtórnej, źródeł czerpania wzorców, mogły zachowywać się w sposób z tym prawem zgodny, a więc nie powodować uruchomienia procesu przypisywania odpowiedzialności karnej i jej egzekwowania.Omówione w pracy wyniki badań, z różnych perspektyw skłaniające do sięgania do Konstytucji RP w procesie stanowienia i stosowania prawa karnego, zarówno przez teoretyków, jak i praktyków, stały się podstawą tezy o obowiązku prowadzenia wykładni prokonstytucyjnej prawa karnego, sformułowanej i zweryfikowanej w ramach pracy doktorskiej będącej przedmiotem niniejszego autoreferatu. Przed omówieniem poszczególnych rozdziałów rozprawy, wskazujących przyjętą w niej metodę oraz prowadzących do próby zrekonstruowania modelu pozwalającego na aplikację kontekstu konstytucyjnego w prawie karnym, należy jeszcze zwrócić uwagę na szerokie rozumienie pojęcia „wykładnia”, które zastosowane zostało w odniesieniu nie tylko do procesu stosowania prawa karnego, ale także jego stanowienia. Jest to uzasadnione przyjętą perspektywą konstytucyjną, która włączana jest w proces stanowienia oraz stosowania prawa karnego, a zatem na każdej z tych płaszczyzn odbywa się proces wykładni norm ustawy zasadniczej oraz aplikowania ich zdekodowanej treści.The main assumption (verified and finally approved in the dissertation) claims that in Poland the Constitution can be understood as the source of knowledge about goods that play the essential role for our society. This interpretation is supported by the political community’s concept treating a community as a community of values in the same time. In other words, there can’t exist any community without common values, regardless if more communitarian or liberal. This kind of approach is manifested in the preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and in its further provisions, particularly in the principle of common good, the principle of supremacy of the Constitution to other acts and the principle of direct application of its provisions. The process of interpretation of criminal law based on the supremacy of the Constitution and the presumption of constitutionality of an act should concern following steps: a) determination of the conflicting goods (usually there is a collision of goods - that are to be placed under protection - and individual freedom), b) optimization of conflicting goods with regard to the principle of proportionality (art. 31.3 of the Polish Constitution) , c) application of the effect of optimization to the specific case

Extended Confiscation of a Material Benefit in Polish Criminal Law

On 23 March 2017 the Sejm (the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament) passed the Act on Amending the Criminal Code and Numerous Other Acts23. In the reasons appended to the draft bill it was asserted that the law intended “to introduce into Polish substantive, executive and procedural criminal law amendments with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of mechanisms employed to deprive offenders of the benefits they accrued as a result of committing a crime”. This paper sets out to present a construction of Article 45 of the Polish Criminal Code as amended and to assess the correctness of the amendment, particularly in the context of the Polish Constitution and the Directive 2014/42/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the freezing and confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds of crime in the European Union

In looking for protected values in the Constitution

Every Constitution, as belonging to the positivistic law, addresses the community to which it is of a fundamental significance. It states not only principles of the political system, freedoms, rights and obligations of persons and rights of citizens but also an organization structure and the main tasks of the state. However, a key feature of the Constitution lies in pointing out values which are particularly important to the society. Being a member of a certain political community means that even if he/she does not identify himself/herself with a given constitutionally protected good, they are still obliged to respect it. It is important to find out the influence of the Constitution principles on the process of qualifying a certain act as a crime. What is more, a crime justification in a given case – a very complex issue – is in my understanding a secondary as well as a modifying effect of the constitutional norms’ context

Kompensacja karnoprawna, czyli o obowiązku naprawienia szkody i zadośćuczynieniu za krzywdę

The new Penal Code chapter Va collects forfeiture and compensation measures: an obligation to remedy damages and exemplary damages. These measures were deprived of formal qualification for punitive measures. Underlining the compensatory nature of the obligation to repair the damage, and at the same time depriving it of certain elements in the field of retributive and protective functions, allows to make criminal law more comprehensive response. Maintaining an artificial and rigid separation between criminal law and civil law does not seem justified. However, the separation causes also some doubts. Particularly, doubts may be raised by insufficiently precise regulation of obligation to pay remedy damages and exemplary damages. It does not seem at all clear whether the rules on civil liability could be fully applicable when deciding the duty of art. 46 of Penal Code. The following issues should be decided: the ability to adjudicate interest when remedy and exemplary damages are ruled, the ability of insurance company to apply for remedy damages in criminal trial. Extending the scope of the impact of substantive civil law to criminal law should be followed by the consideration of the need for changes in the criminal procedure, by better adapting it to rule in matters essentially belonging to the civil law

Barring of Claims Pertaining to Selected Communist Crimes in the Light of the Prohibition on Torture

The question of communist crimes, especially the failure to police and investigate them, deserves constitutional scrutiny. A survey of arguments presented hitherto in academic literature on the subject appears to point towards finding those actions incompatible with the constitution, particularly through the prism of the principles of democratic state ruled by law and the right to a fair trial. This article, by casting light on another aspect of the crimes committed by public officials of the Polish People’s Republic, tender san additional catalyst to examine the problem in question. For it is unacceptable for a state, and contrary to the Polish Constitution and international law, not to provide a basic, justice-based claim to those who suffered harm during the previous regime. This is all the more convincing since investigating and policing those crimes in that time was practically impossible, and the acts committed often took the shape of torture or inhumane, cruel and degrading treatment