The Crime of So-called ‘Whispering Campaign’ in Light of Selected Case Law of the District Court in Cracow in the Period of 1946–1950 Cover Image

Przestępstwo „szeptanej propagandy” w świetle wybranego orzecznictwa Sądu Okręgowego w Krakowie z lat 1946–1950
The Crime of So-called ‘Whispering Campaign’ in Light of Selected Case Law of the District Court in Cracow in the Period of 1946–1950

Author(s): Mateusz Woźniak
Subject(s): History of Law, Criminal Law, Penology, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Penal Policy
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: criminal law; a small penal code; a false declaration; whispering campaign; amnesty; imprisonment; pre-trial detention; cassation;

Summary/Abstract: Polish criminal law of the post-war period was often used by the new Communist authorities as a tool for dismantling and replacing the prior legal and social structure”. One of the legal acts which functioned as the state authority’s instrument, and simplified the construction of a social and economic system based on Soviet examples, was the decree of 13 June 1946, commonly referred to as the “small” penal code, on crimes which were particularly dangerous during the period of reconstruction in the country. Article 22 of the decree penalised the crime of so-called ‘whispering campaigns’. The case law of the District Court in Cracow in the period of 1946-1950 covers a number of proceedings conducted on the basis of article 22 of the small penal code. Herein, over twenty cases are presented among which fourteen defendants were convicted, six were acquitted, and three proceedings were annulled, including two amnesties. The most serious penalty was a sentence of imprisonment for three years and six months, and the mildest was a two-month detention.

  • Issue Year: 11/2018
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 567-580
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Polish
Toggle Accessibility Mode