Przeludnienie zakładów karnych w Polsce - kierunki zmian legislacyjnych
Overcrowded prisons in Poland - directions of legislative amendments

Summary/Abstract: The problem associated with overcrowded prisons in Poland has stayed unsolved since 1918 (restoration of independence). Despite the passage of nearly 100 years since the event mentioned above, an effective solution of this subject still has not been found. What is more, in the light of statistical data from March 2012, more than 47 thousands people sentenced by final court stay outside the prisons due to the inability to start serving their sentences. Under article 110 § 2 of Polish Executive Criminal Law, area in a residential cell for a convicted person, is not less than 3 m2. It is vital to notice that this indicator is one of the lowest in all Europe. Lower surface of the cell intended for a prisoner is only countries of Eastern Europe such as Estonia, Latvia, Russia (2.5 square meters) and in Belarus (2 square meters). This shows that Polish standard leaves a lot to wish in providing prisoners appropriate conditions in prison. The main aim of this article is finding an effective solution to the problem signalized above. It seems that changing regulations of substantive criminal law in the area of mitigate punishment for committing various crimes is the best instrument of combating the phenomenon of overcrowding in Polish prisons.

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