AMENDMENTS TO THE CRIMINAL CODE
As of 1 October 2023, the Act amending the Criminal Code and certain other acts of 7 July 2022 entered into force. The amendment to the Penal Code introduces, among other things, an aggravation of criminal liability for certain offences, changes to the criminal liability of minors, or changes to the catalogue of penalties and penal measures.
NEW CATALOGUE OF PENALTIES AND CRIMINAL MEASURES
- The penalty of 25 years' imprisonment has been removed from the existing catalogue of penalties, however, Article 37 of the Penal Code, which specifies the period for which imprisonment is imposed, has been modified. Until now, the indicated punishment could last a minimum of one month and a maximum of 15 years. Currently, the maximum term of imprisonment is 30 years.
- Significant changes are also taking place in the case of a fine - as a rule, the lowest number of daily rates of a fine is 10, but in the case where the act is punishable by both a fine and imprisonment, the lowest number of daily rates will vary from 50 to 150 (depending on the amount of imprisonment that the act is punished with).
- An analogous provision applies to the penalty of restriction of liberty. In a situation where the act is threatened with both a deprivation of liberty penalty and a restriction of liberty penalty, at least the minimum restriction of liberty penalty specified in Article 34 § 1aa of the Code of Criminal Procedure shall be imposed. Meanwhile, degradation has been added to the catalogue of penal measures.
- It will be possible for the court to impose a prohibition of conditional release on a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment. This will be possible against perpetrators of offences against life and health, liberty, sexual freedom, public security or for a terrorist offence (also against those sentenced to at least 20 years' imprisonment). The prohibition of conditional release may also be imposed on an offender whose personal characteristics (as well as the nature and circumstances of the act) indicate that his/her remaining at liberty will cause a permanent danger to the life, health, freedom or sexual freedom of others.
CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY OF MINORS
- Under the terms of the Criminal Code, anyone who commits a criminal act after the age of 17 is liable. However, in certain cases we may also apply the Criminal Act to a minor who has reached the age of 15. The amendment extends the catalogue of acts for which such a minor will be liable, adding rape and its qualified types to Article 10 of the Criminal Code. However, it should be borne in mind that a minor may be held responsible for the acts listed in Article 10 § 2 of the Penal Code only when the circumstances of the case and the degree of his/her development support this, and in particular when educational or corrective measures have already been applied to him/her, but have not been successful.
- In addition, the amendment indicates that a perpetrator who, after attaining the age of 14 and before attaining the age of 15, has committed a murder of the qualified type (Article 148 § 2 or 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) will also be subject to criminal liability under the principles set out in the Code. However, the circumstances of the case, the degree of development of the perpetrator, his/her personal characteristics and conditions must be in favour of imposing criminal liability on him/her under the Code. In addition, there must be a presumption that the application of educational or correctional measures will not ensure his rehabilitation.
PENALTY ASSESSMENT DIRECTIVES
- The amendment also introduced changes to the sentencing directives, i.e. the factors that the court will take into account when sentencing. The educational goals, which the judge was previously obliged to take into account, have been removed from the provision. The "needs for shaping the legal awareness of society" has also been removed from the set of directives, replacing them with the "goals of punishment in terms of social impact", which should be assessed negatively, as the indicated change directly emphasises the deterrent function of the sanction and may lead to the imposition of high, inadequate penalties and criminal measures.
- The legislator introduces Articles 53 §2a and 2bk.k. into the Code, containing a number of aggravating and mitigating circumstances for the offender respectively. As regards aggravating circumstances, attention should be paid to Article 53 §2a(6), i.e. committing a crime motivated by hatred because of the victim's national, ethnic, racial, political or religious affiliation or because of his/her irreligiousness. Mitigating circumstances will be, inter alia, the commission of the offence in response to an emergency situation, the true assessment of which was significantly impeded, or cooperation with law enforcement authorities.
CRIMINAL LIABILITY OF DRIVERS
- Article 42 of the CC, sets out the rules for imposing a driving ban on perpetrators of offences against the safety of transport. The possibility of imposing a lifetime driving ban will be possible not only in the case of committing the offences specified in Article 42 § 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, but also when the perpetrator consumed alcohol or took intoxicants after such incidents and before being tested.
- Moreover, the court will have the possibility to order the forfeiture of a motor vehicle driven by the perpetrator, however, the indicated provision does not enter into force until 14 March 2024.
In addition to the above changes, changes have been introduced in the penalties for certain offences, e.g. for robbery and for rape, which have been further extended to include qualified types (e.g. rape of a pregnant woman or rape with simultaneous recording of the event). Significant changes have also been introduced with regard to the offence of theft - previously, theft of property with a value of up to PLN 500 constituted a misdemeanour. Now the indicated threshold has been increased to PLN 800.
The entirety of the changes can be found under the link: https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU20220002600/U/D20222600Lj.pdf