Political crime in Polish systemic conditions in the 20th century

Political offences are a specific ‘set’ of prohibited acts listed by the legislator, undertaken by the perpetrator in specific political and normative conditions, and determined by the shape of the state’s political system. The legislator in the Penal Code of 1932, 1969 and 1997, as well as numerous non-code criminal law acts (e.g. in 1928, 1934, in the years 1944–1946), distinguished acts directed against a state that have features of criminal acts of a political nature. In the period of the Second Polish Republic, despite changes to systemic conditions in 1926, the state's attitude towards these prohibited acts have yet to be uniformly assessed. The first normative act defining the perpetrator's action against the state was the Regulation of the President of the Republic of Poland against espionage of 1928. After 1944/1945, the term ‘counter-revolutionary crime’ emerged in the doctrine of communist criminal law. Counter- revolutionary action was explicitly treated as a political crime. Systemic changes in 1956 significantly modified the interpretation of this act prohibited by law enforcement and judicial authorities, but until 1989, the legal status set out in the Criminal Code of 1969 remained. After 1956, the interpretation of political provenance changed, however the code solutions introduced in the system remained in force. Yet, after the turn of 1989, in the new normative and political reality it was necessary to refer the legislator to acts (political) committed under the previous system, consistent with the legal norms of that time but classified in new legal and political circumstances as crimes committed on behalf of state organs or as state crimes. Similarly, it turned out that the legislator had to respond to acts committed in the previous system and considered illegal; however, after the system was changed in 1989, they were already treated as acts directed towards the Polish state. In the Penal Code of 1997, the catalog of acts directed against the state, which are described as political crimes, was stipulated in
articles 127–137.

https://doi.org/10.7862/rz.2020.hss.29

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LEGAL ACTS

Decree on responsibility for the September defeat and Nazification of state life of January 22, 1946 (Journal of Laws of 1946, No. 5, item 46).

Decree on particularly dangerous crimes during the rebuilding of the State of June 13, 1946 (Journal of Laws of 1946, No. 30, item 192).

Decree of the Polish Committee of National Liberation of November 4, 1944 on protective measures against traitors to the Nation (Journal of Laws of 1944, item 11, No. 54).

Decree of the Polish Committee of National Liberation of September 23, 1944 – Penal Code of the Polish Army (Journal of Laws of 1944 No. 6, item 27).

Decree of the Polish Committee of National Liberation of October 30, 1944 on the protection of the state (Journal of Laws of 1944, No. 10, item 50).

Decree of the Polish Committee of National Liberation of 30 October 1944 on the protection of the state (Journal of Laws of 1944, No. 10, item 50).

Decree of August 31, 1944, punishing fascist-Nazi criminals guilty of murder and ill-treatment of civilians, prisoners of war and traitors of the Polish Nation (Journal of Laws of 1944, No. 9, item 377).

The Penal Code of 1903, including changes and additions in force in the Republic of Poland on May 1, 1921, Warsaw 1922.

The Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997 adopted by the National Assembly on April 2, 1997, adopted by the Nation in a constitutional referendum on May 25, 1997, signed by the President of the Republic of Poland on July 16, 1997 (Journal of Laws 1997 No. 78, item 483).

Regulation of the President of the Republic of July 11, 1932 – Penal Code (Journal of Laws of 1932, item 571, No. 60).

Regulation of the President of the Republic of July 11, 1932 – Penal Code, No. 60, item 571.

Regulation of the President of the Republic of February 16, 1928 on punishment for espionage and some other offenses against the State (Journal of Laws of 1928 No. 18, item 160).

Regulation of the President of the Republic of October 24, 1934 on certain crimes against the security of the State (Journal of Laws of 1934, item 94, No. 851).

Act of 18 December 1998 on the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (Journal of Laws 1998 No. 155 item 1016).

Act of 19 April 1969 – Penal Code (Journal of Laws of 1969, item 13, No. 94).

Act of 23 February 1991 on recognition as invalid of judgments issued against persons repressed for their activities in favor of the independent existence of the Polish State (Journal of Laws 1991 No. 34 item 149).

Act of June 6, 1997 – Executive Penal Code (Journal of Laws 1997 No. 90, item 557).

Act of 6 June 1997 – Penal Code (Journal of Laws 1997 No. 88 item 553).

Act of 6 June 1997 – Code of Criminal Procedure (Journal of Laws 1997 No. 89 item 555).