O społecznej szkodliwości czynu w polskim prawie karnym
Social Harmfulness of an Act under Polish Criminal Law

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents some considerations regarding the concept of social harm in the Polish criminal law. Legally, it is well known that the reprehensibility of an act, i.e. its social harm, higher than negligible, is a condition for criminal liability and also a factor that determine the seriousness of an offence. Social harm is therefore one of the determinants of a crime. The author draws our attention to the lack of need for statutory regulation, demonstrating the principle nullum crimen sine damno sociali magis quam minimo. It seems that the element of social harm should be included in each generic type of a prohibited act. Thus, it appears sufficient to define a formal crime since the material content is its essential component. No complete elimination of social harm from Polish criminal law is postulated. Given a specific level of harm, certain mechanisms of criminal law are permissible, for example a conditional discontinuance of criminal proceedings. A minimal level of social harm posed by an act would be a prerequisite for discontinuance due to the principle of opportunism.

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