Nowa Kodyfikacja Prawa Karnego

Foreword

Tomasz Kalisz — 2025-02-26

The essence of domestic violence: Introductory issues

Joanna Bereznowska-Bulas — 2025-02-26

This article addresses the essence of domestic violence. A detailed analysis of the issue of domestic violence undoubtedly first requires an understanding of the mechanism of violence itself, in the common understanding of this phenomenon, and an indication of its types, because all domestic violence is a type of violence, but not all violence can be classified as domestic violence. The article includes, in particular, the definitions of domestic violence used by the authors of various legal publications, from the perspective of criminology, as well as those used by the legislator. The author also presents issues related to types of violence and characteristics of perpetrators of domestic violence, con-cluding with current statistics on the topic.

The shape of the prison sentence on Polish lands from the 15th century until the fall of the Duchy of Warsaw

Tomasz Kalisz — 2025-02-26

Former Polish law, in terms of broadly understood prison sentences, provided for several significantly different forms of isolation. These differences were a consequence of the entities to which they could be applied, the method of execution, and the consequences of application (disgraceful or non-disgraceful measure). The place where it was performed also varied—it could be dungeons, fortresses, castles, monasteries, prisons, inns rented for this purpose, or the convict’s own home. The penalty of imprisonment, becoming a sanction, clearly accelerated the change from the medieval system of executing penalties, based on corporal punishment, towards modern penal systems, based on isolation, as an independent and dominant penal sanction.

Therapy for persons deprived of liberty in Poland: Insights from statistical data

Adam Kwieciński — 2025-02-26

In this article, data concerning the therapeutic system of imprisonment in Poland for the years 1999–2023 is analysed. Changes in the prison population and the number of convicts within the therapeutic system are presented, taking into account different categories of convicts, types of penitentiaries, and whether the therapy was conducted within or outside specialized therapeutic wards. The analysis begins with data from 1999, the first full year of the new Polish Executive Penal Code, which established the therapeutic system as a separate method of serving the penalty of deprivation of liberty (alongside the regular system and programme system). The aim of this publication is to present the evolution of the therapy of persons deprived of liberty in Poland over the past 25 years, focusing on quantitative, structural, and organizational aspects. This paper highlights the most important aspects of the therapeutic system in Poland, which have been documented in official statistical publications.

Remarks on alternative solutions to punishment in petty offences law

Katarzyna Liżyńska — 2025-02-26

Given the need for the state to respond to low-level acts such as petty offences, there is still a noticeable search for an optimal model of punishment for these acts. It is known that penal means of punishment do not always fulfil their purpose. Therefore, the petty offences law, which is closer to the principle of opportunism, apart from the inconvenience of penal solutions towards the perpetrator of the offence, assumes the possibility of applying non-penal measures in the form of educational influence measures. The article presents the essence of the measures included in Article 41 of the Code of Petty Offences and draws attention to the legislative imperfections in this respect and many interpellation- related doubts. The analysis of educational measures indicates that they could play an important role in changing the hierarchy of the model of punishment for offences. However, it is necessary for the legislator to consider changes, including those indicated in this study, in order to prioritize this form of punishment for minor prohibited acts in the form of petty offences.

Policy on the application of conditional early release in Poland for the years 2014–2023

Kamila Mrozek — 2025-02-26

Conditional early release from the remainder of a prison sentence is a key institution in the regulation of the penitentiary population. The subject of this study is an analysis of the policy on the use of conditional early release from the remainder of the prison sentence between 2014 and 2023. The title institution has been assessed from the perspective of the number of convicts serving custodial sentences, the initiative of the bodies entitled to submit applications on this subject, and changes in the number of successful and unsuccessful applications. The analysis confirmed a clear decrease not only in the number of successful applications, but also in the interest of convicts in the title institution itself. It can be assumed that this is due to the nature of the penal and penitentiary policies implemented in recent years, i.e., the actual tightening of the repressive and isolation functions of imprisonment. This observation is confirmed by the numerous amendments to the penal codification tightening, inter alia, the grounds for applying for conditional early release from the remainder of the prison sentence.

The European Court of Human Rights and life imprisonment

Aleksandra Polak-Kruszyk — 2025-02-26

This paper is focused on analysing and discussing the standards established by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) concerning prisoners serving life sentences. The article begins by outlining the general standards for implementing life imprisonment established over the years by the ECtHR, based on complaints from life-sentenced prisoners across all Council of Europe countries. In the second part, the article examines 23 specific cases of Polish prisoners serving life sentences who have lodged complaints against Poland. The analysis addresses the causes of violations of specific articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and considers the number of damages awarded under Article 41 of the ECHR, as well as the length of time the Court took to process complaints from Polish prisoners serving life sentences.

Grounds for suspending the execution of a sentence under Article 15 of the Executive Penal Code: Selected issues and case law

Katarzyna Sitnik-Gawlikowska — 2025-02-26

This article addresses the issue of the grounds for suspending the execution of a sentence pursuant to Article 15 of the Executive Penal Code, taking into account selected issues of doctrine and case law. It is a contribution to a deeper analysis of the institution of suspending the execution of a sentence.