Geneza ustawy o postępowaniu w sprawach nieletnich z 26 października 1982 r.
The Origin of the Polish Act on the Procedure in Juvenile Cases of October 26th, 1982

Summary/Abstract: During the interwar years and after the Second World War, law-making in Poland was very casuistic, which was due to the difficult socio-economic situation of the ruined country. The provisions of the Polish Criminal Code applicable at the time also regulated individual provisions on juvenile perpetrators. The objective of this paper is to present the multiannual and complicated process of creation of separate regulations on procedure in juvenile cases. At the same time, the legislative process of the said act as well as the innovative legal solutions thereof will be presented. It should be emphasised that the problem of a lack of both family courts and separate legal norms applicable in juvenile cases was present not only in Poland, as many other more developed countries were facing it too. The first draft act was proposed at the very beginning of the 20th century, whereas the following years brought about more projects on juvenile cases procedure. Although it has to be recognised that the issue of said regulations was raised quite often, ultimately no project was adopted. A critical look needs to be taken on the fact that juvenile perpetrators committing prohibited acts or acts of a demoralising character were punished pursuant to the provisions of and based on the principles laid out in criminal statutes and other individual statutes, provisions of which were occasionally applied in the said cases. Until 1982, the applied provisions were those of the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure from the 1920s and 1930s. Jurists of that time incessantly emphasised that the legal norms regarding the juvenile should be of a preventive and educational nature and that the separate provisions laid out in the repealed Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure did not comply with these requirements. It is worth noting that juvenile cases should be subjected to special protection and appropriately analysed in case of application of outdated provisions. In Poland, the need for the said legislation lasted for too long, as it was not until 1982 that the first separate statute on juvenile cases procedure was adopted.

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