Sexual offenders register. A tool of additional repression or an element of rational defense for the local community?

Abstract

The publication is an analysis of the provisions of the Act of May 13, 2016 on counteracting the threats of sexual crime, in the extent of introducing a protective measure in the form of a register of sexual offenders. It not only introduces the legal regulation of this institution, but also attempts to present all controversies and doubts related to the introduction of title databases into the Polish legal system and their functioning in the following years. The considerations focus, but are not limited to, on securing the rights of persons whose data may be entered into registers, but also on the interests of victims and their families. An equally important element of the work is an attempt to answer the question whether the control model promoted by the legislator in dealing with this type of perpetrator is in opposition to therapeutic goals.