Poland: Study of Pre-War Court Cases Related to Freedom of Speech and Formal Logic
Poland: Study of Pre-War Court Cases Related to Freedom of Speech and Formal Logic

Summary/Abstract: This article discusses a political and social scandal of 1936-1938 which included a trial for defamation (Polish: zniesławienie) based on an accusation of spreading Soviet propaganda in a Polish magazine for children (“Płomyk”). The judgments issued in 1936 and 1937 concerned freedom of the press and the right to formulate critical opinions in the public interest. The case is well preserved and as such could be analyzed in light of Polish jurisprudence of that era related to the concept of “proof of truth”. The issues identified in the judgments led to an analysis whether opinions can be assessed as true or false. Pre-war and modern jurisprudence related to freedom of speech was invoked to show how the matter of critical opinions evolved with relation to human rights. The pre-war Poland was also home to the Warsaw-Lwów School of thought, including A.Tarski and his semantic conception of truth. Logical concepts related to the problem of truth (invoking also G. Frege and Z.Ziembiński) are used in the article in an attempt at formulating a basic matrix for distinguishing opinions from non-opinions (the Value-Judgments Matrix). These may be used by judges and possibly in modern dispute resolution technology.

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